Consumers are getting more optimistic about the housing and mortgage markets, according to data released Tuesday by Fannie Mae. According to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey, 50% of consumers are optimistic about their mortgage credit, saying they believe it would be easy to get a mortgage. That's up from 45% in last year's survey. Forty-nine percent of consumers surveyed also believed they'd see home prices rise over the next 12 months, up from 43% last year. "The marked improvement in housing market sentiment over the course of 2013 bore out our view going into the year that the housing recovery was on a firm footing. Year-over-year gains in home price expectations and attitudes about the current selling environment were particularly notable," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "Going into 2014, housing attitudes are recovering from a recent dip that coincided with the heated fiscal discussions between the (Obama) administration and Congress late last year.