Boston-area home values outperformed the national average in the third quarter, both compared to the second quarter and the third quarter of 2010, according to recent research from real estate website Zillow.

Home values in Boston in the third quarter fell 1.3 percent year-over-year – but rose 0.5 percent compared to the second quarter – to $319,100. Nationally, values slipped 4.4 percent and 0.2 percent year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, respectively, to $171,500.

Nationally, 28.6 percent of single-family homeowners with a mortgage are currently underwater, Zillow found, compared to just 14.3 percent in the Boston area.

Boston’s 19.9 percent fall in single-family home values since their peak is also far less than the national average decline of 28.8 percent, according to Zillow.

"The peak summer home buying season is over for the year, with fewer home sales to show for it than one would expect based solely on the underlying fundamentals of price and financing costs. Home affordability is at historic lows courtesy of a large reset in home prices and continued low mortgage rates," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.  "We’re clearly dealing with a crisis of confidence that is keeping potential buyers on the sidelines, fueled largely by high unemployment and more general economic uncertainty. That said, given the steady drumbeat of recent negative economic news, home values held up better than would be expected. We have been forecasting a housing bottom in 2012, at the earliest, and third quarter data further confirms this forecast."