Harvard University housing experts don’t know when the U.S. real estate market will bottom out, but say some positive signs are emerging.

“While it is too soon to tell whether housing markets will stabilize in 2009, conditions that could support a recovery are taking shape,” researchers at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a “State of the Nation’s Housing” report due out today.

The study noted that low sale prices and mortgage rates are making homes more affordable in many U.S. cities.

At the same time, new-home construction has “dropped so dramatically that long-run supply and demand are now approaching balance,” researchers wrote.

Over the long term, the experts also expect strong housing demand from immigrant families and “echo boomers” - the children of the post-war “baby boom” generation.

“The echo boomers are entering their peak household formation years of 25-44 with more than 5 million more members than the baby boomers had in the 1970s,” researchers wrote. “(This) will help keep demand strong for the next 10 years and beyond.”

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/