Massachusetts may be getting back on its feet a little quicker than the rest of the country, but housing markets are unlikely to return to normal until 2014, according to a morning panel discussion in Springfield sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

Panelists included economist Barry Bluestone of Northeastern University; Tina Brooks, undersecretary for the state’s Housing and Economic Development; Richard Walega of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Douglas Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.

Unlike previous recessions, in which housing led the recovery, the current downturn was sparked by a housing bust which suggests government agencies and local communities may need to rethink their approach to housing. Demand shift is shifting toward more rental housing and demographic trends, especially as an aging population is inspiring people to downsize, panelists suggested.

 "I would argue that we are at the point today where it is all about jobs, and those regions where we see growth in jobs will see the quickest recovery," said Duncan.

The state’s economy has not been as hard hit as other areas of the country and is improving more quickly than that of the country as a whole, said Bluestone.

"For all of Massachusetts and across New England, recovery is coming across the board," he said, adding stimulus driving growth in construction is up 6.5 percent. 

While the Bay State represents a little more than 2 percent of the total nation’s workforce, in the past several months more than 9 percent of the total new jobs created have been in Massachusetts, he said. 

Both Bluestone and Duncan pointed to 2014 as the likeliest point for the housing market to get back on track, at least as far as new construction and pricing go. Bluestone compared the current boom and bust to the Massachusetts housing cycle in 1988-1997, another rough patch for the local market.

He said the speed and depth of the decline for peak were roughly similar, and if the recovery continued at its projected pace, local prices would not recover to 2005 levels until 2014. Duncan, too, suggested the pace of construction needed to realign with back long term demographic demands in order to propel recovery.

Duncan also discussed Fannie’s recent national surveys, which the entity is undertaking to try and detect if there has been a fundamental shift in American’s attitude toward homeownership. Overall change in attitudes towards homeownership suggest continued decline in homeownership rates, said Duncan, with the majority of people thinking it’s a good time to buy but a bad time to sell, suggesting that so long as people continued to be uncertain about their job prospects, they would be reluctant to take the plunge into homeownership.

Current owners, even many of those who are underwater, still believe homeownership to be beneficial, however, especially if they purchased their home not as an investment but because of lifestyle reasons. "Their mindset in the acquisition of the home has affected whether they think homeownership is a good thing," said Duncan.