According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home resales rose 7.4 percent – the most since October 2001 and the fourth such increase this year.

All regions of the country saw an increase in pending sales from July, with the West showing the largest increase of 18.4 percent.  The Northeast saw an 8.4 percent rise, the Midwest a 3.6 percent increase and 2.3 percent in the South.

According to reports, people are taking advantage of low home prices, and sales are up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

Although the likely reason for the rise in pending resales is investors buying up foreclosures, the fact remains that these houses are being taken off of the market, which has had a surplus of inventory.

According to an online poll reported by Zillow.com, over 75 percent of homeowners believe that the value of their home has increased or stayed the same in 2007.

To add even more positive consumer sentiment to the mix, a large portion of all homeowners say that they are planning to make some sort of home improvements in 2008:

• About 80 percent say that they plan on spending the same amount or more on minor home improvements such as painting.

ʉۢ More than 65 percent say they will spend the same amount or more on major home improvements such as remodeling the kitchen or replacing the roof.

ʉۢ About 35 percent say they are more or equally likely to take out a home equity loan; 36 percent to refinance or take out a second mortgage, and 34 percent say they are more or equally as likely to sell their homes.

According to a Zillow.com spokesperson, most people are not so affected by declining home values unless they must sell or need equity immediately, contributing to healthy investments in home upgrades, despite the downward market trends.