Nearly half of consumer say they are comfortable with the idea of walking away from homes with underwater mortgages — an ominous sign if the expected rise in foreclosures next year puts additional pressure on home prices.

Some 48 percent of homeowners with a mortgage said they’d consider a strategic default if the amount they owned on their mortgage was higher than the value of the property. Six months ago, just 41 percent of consumers said they’d consider it, according to a survey released Tuesday by realty Web sites Trulia and RealtyTrac. Get the full story »