Fannie Mae Predicts Housing Turnaround

While millions of Americans continue to struggle with debt, many have seen one of their biggest investments for the future lose value over the last few years.

Despite the recent drop in home prices, the largest U.S. mortgage company, Fannie Mae, is predicting that property values will begin to rise during the third quarter of 2011.

Overall, the government-owned real estate giant says home prices will rise 0.6 percent for the year, stopping nearly five years of declines, Bloomberg reports. In addition, the company says it expects housing demand to stabilize and to see increases in home sales and construction in every quarter of the year.

"By the end of this year, the housing crash could be over, or, if we see foreclosures pushed into next year, we might not see a recovery until the end of 2012," Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, told the news source. "It’s very difficult to gauge how it will play out."

If home prices rise, this could mean many homeowners could become less reluctant about selling their homes. Others would likely be more apt to make timely payments to lenders, as it is likely that consumers will once again see their homes as investments.