Slightly over half of all homeowners say their homes are worth more today than they were when they bought them, according to a new national survey conducted just before Christmas.

Most homeowners are confident they know what their home is worth, and a greater number than ever, some 29 percent, believe that they have lost value since their bought it.

An earlier Rasmussen national telephone survey conducted in early November found that just 12 percent of U.S. homeowners now expect the value of their home to go up in 2012.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey also found that homeowners are growing increasingly pessimistic about their home equity position. Tue survey found that just 44 percent of homeowners believe their home is worth more than the amount they still owe on their mortgage, a decrease from 50 percent of owners in April who believed their home is worth more than the mortgage.

The survey of 690 U.S. Homeowners was conducted on December 19-20, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.