Groton — A roaring stock market, historically high corporate earnings, low interest rates, improving family finances and moderating energy prices should bring a resurgence in southeastern Connecticut’s building and real estate industries within the next few years, a panel of experts said today at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

“We have a lot of pent-up demand, and I think we have the capacity to take advantage of that,” said Peter Gioia, an economist and vice president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.

Gioia spoke before about 125 people at Groton Inn & Suites during the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut’s annual Construction Forecast, which had been put on hold for the past few years because of a prolonged slump in the housing industry.

Gioia said this year he expected only moderate improvements in the Connecticut housing market as the state’s economy — and the region’s in particular — continues to lag a recovery seen in the rest of the nation. But he added that 2014 and 2015 are expected to be much better years for housing and construction.

“Banks are lending more,” he said. “That should be a positive for housing and construction going forward.”

Gioia added that a possible agreement in Washington on immigration reform would be a big positive for the economy and the housing industry.

Jim Williams, president of the Builders and Remodelers Association of Eastern Connecticut, allowed that his industry has seen a bit of an uptick lately, with permits for new housing up significantly statewide. But the numbers are nowhere near what was seen at the height of the building boom in 2004-2006, according to the latest state figures.

“It’s not as strong as we’d all like,” he said.

John Bolduc, chief executive of the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors, said that while a headline in this month’s issue of Money magazine boldly states that “Housing is Back,” the story is a bit different here.

“The headline in eastern Connecticut is ‘Housing is Coming Back,’” Bolduc said. “But it will be two to three years before it is back.”