By now, most real estate industry professionals have already heard about the rosy forecast that the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors has made.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s head economist, predicts that home prices will increase between 3 percent and 5 percent next year while existing-home sales will jump nearly 14 percent to 5.7 million.

Yun says barring any “unforeseen events impacting the economy”, factors like the expansion of the tax credit and the drop in housing inventory are helping to stabilize the housing market and should lead to its recovery.

But I can hear the skeptics now: what about the fact that unemployment is expected to increase through the first half of 2010 and may even reach 11 percent?

And I can appreciate the skeptics’ concerns.

NAR’s chief leaders have been criticized for their overly optimistic forecasts and their failure to acknowledge the last housing bubble. In fact, some bloggers and web sites emerged in recent years devoted to ridiculing Yun’s predecessor, David Lereah, who authored a book titled “Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?”.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Massachusetts home prices will increase next year?