The Boston Globe looks at 'conflicting' data on rents versus buying. "Gregg Croteau wanted his own place, but as he started looking at property in Lowell, he was so stunned by sky-high asking prices that he decided to keep renting and wait for a bargain. Selling prices, he reasoned, had to come down at some point."

"Croteau's case illustrates how conflicting forces are pulling down the region's housing market, meaning rents are likely to rise more slowly here than in other parts of the United States."

"Although the Boston area has more competition for apartments, Walter Moloney, the NAR's spokesman said, that hasn't translated into heftier rent hikes, because 'we are losing population as a state and have been for the last several years, so there is less demand in the existing rental stock.' Also, he said, there is a significant amount of new rental housing becoming available. After 'underproducing rental housing for years,' several significant rental developments are now under construction, he said."

"Jutta Donahue owns a rental property in Stoneham, and in recent months she's watched as her landlord-related costs have soared. 'My condo fees have gone up because of fuel costs, and my insurance has gone up, too. Water costs, everything,' she said from her Woburn office last week. She thought about raising the rent, and then she thought about the consequences of doing that."

"'Do you raise the rent and risk a possible vacancy or keep the rent low to keep someone in there?'"

"Donahue decided to absorb the added costs herself because she has a good tenant and wants to keep him. Increasing the rent, she said, would probably force him out. 'Then my place could go empty for a while, but I'd still have to pay the bills,' she said."

"During the not-so-distant housing boom, many property owners in Massachusetts converted two- and three-family homes into condominium buildings, a move that took many rental units off the market. Now there is a glut of condominiums on the market."

"Tom Meagher, the president of Northeast Apartment Advisors, said that this spring there were 16,372 condominiums for sale throughout the state, an 81 percent increase from the same time last year. Also, he said, 46,000 condominiums are in various development stages."

"These days, potential homeowners are carefully monitoring the swollen housing inventory and watching as the cost of borrowing money for a mortgage gets more expensive. Croteau has been searching to buy a home for a little more than a year and has noticed two emerging trends. First, homes are on the market longer than they were a year ago."

"'There used to be this feeling that if you didn't grab it, it would be gone in two days,' Croteau said. Now, he said, prices are starting to come down. 'I'm confident that I'm going to get something good sooner rather than later.'"

"Many renters feel that time is on their side. 'There are lots of first-time home buyers who are waiting to purchase, and they are continuing to rent,' said Jason Weissman, president of Boston Realtors Advisors."

"Then there are people who have sold their homes and are waiting to buy another but are renting for now. They are waiting to see if prices drop. (Broker) Arthur Horiatis in Cambridge, said that 'wait-and see' approach could eventually trigger drops in rents in the suburbs northwest of Boston."

"'I think that the rents will stay flat or possibly go down,' because when homeowners can't sell their property, they have to choose between lowering their selling price or renting their home, he said."