Home buyers are feeling more confident that the housing market is in recovery mode and they’re realizing they better act soon if they want to take advantage of low mortgage rates and home prices before they rise more.

Seventy percent (70%) of home buyers in 18 markets believe home prices will rise in their neighborhood within the next year, according to a new survey by Redfin of more than 1,000 home buyers.

In the first quarter of the year, only thirty percent (30%) of home buyers said they believed prices would rise in the next 12 months.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the survey respondents said that the record low mortgage rates were a main reason to purchase a home soon.

Meanwhile, nearly sixty percent (60%) of home buyers said their chief concern about purchasing a home was the smaller number of homes to choose from nowadays.

Redfin expects the 2013 home-buying season to kick off early in January 2013 with very strong demand, which, paired with low inventory, will cause prices to continue to rise steadily into spring.

The 18 markets participating in the survey were Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.