Owners of the country’s lowest-valued homes emerged from 2014 in a stronger position than previous years, with median home values nationwide in the least expensive tier up 6.8 percent year-over-year, according to a new report from real estate portal Zillow.

Homes in the Greater Boston area did even better than the national average by Zillow’s estimate, with low-end homes in Boston gaining 7.9 percent in value, compared to 5.4 percent for Boston homes overall. Inventory in Boston also rose, increasing 11.7 percent in 2014.

Lower-valued homes were hit harder by the housing recession than luxury and high-end homes, and had a less-steady recovery. But 2014 saw a solid comeback for those homeowners whose home values are in the bottom third of their markets, according to Zillow.

While homeowners in the bottom price tier are still 17 percent below their pre-recession peak values, this is a distinct improvement from the 31 percent value loss they suffered when home values hit rock bottom in January 2012.

"In many ways, for the housing market to fully normalize, it has to start at the bottom," Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries said in a statement. "More lower-end home sellers will help meet demand from entry-level buyers, and these sellers in turn will re-enter the market in search of a slightly pricier home, which will entice more middle- and upper-tier sellers to list their homes. As the economy gets stronger, we expect more young adults to strike out on their own, moving out of friends’ and parents’ homes. This will create strong demand in coming months, especially for less expensive homes."

Homes in the bottom third of home values bottomed out in January 2012 with a median value of $84,100. In December 2014, they had bounced back to a median value of $101,400.

However, Zillow projected that the rise in value will slow in 2015, with U.S. homes predicted to increase 3 percent in value in 2015, compared with 6.6 percent in 2014. In Boston that number is even lower, with home values projected to rise 1.7 percent.

The metros with the biggest jump over last year in low-end inventory are Las Vegas, with 66.9 percent more low-end homes on the market in December 2014 than December 2013, Riverside, with 47.3 percent more, Washington, D.C. with 45.7 percent more and Orlando with 45.1 percent more.