When will the falling house prices finally plateau? This question is on the lips of a number of real estate market analysts and investors who are looking for the promised turnaround in a housing sector that continues to disappoint. Although regulations are becoming more stringent in the lending market and the real estate sector has seen some overall positive trends, the big factors of foreclosures and a reticent buyer attitude has continued to make property prices fall.

Some home analysts are wondering where the bottom prices are. For millions of American homeowners, the same question is being analyzed. With a stalled real estate market, homeowners are sitting tight, waiting for the storm of failing prices to past. While they wait, their home equity is slowly sliding by and the value of their home dips more and more.

Many potential home buyers have decided to wait on the sidelines rather than risk selling their home for too little of a profit. And for those individuals who are in the market for their first homes, the unsteady market has played a role for these non-homeowners as well. The ability to secure a mortgage, and establish a good rate, has proven to be trickier as the market continues to spiral downward.

Last week, the National Association of Realtors stated that the median price of homes decreased 6.1% compared to a year ago. Sales from the previous month had also fallen 2.6%, which was a higher percentage than had been previously estimated by experts.

What hope lies on the horizon for home buyers and sellers alike? Fortunately, there are major housing packages that are currently in Congress that can help to turn the situation around. A beneficial package was passed by the House last week that would boost the market by assisting first-time home buyers.

However, analysts state that there are a number of factors that could make the housing market go up or continue to fall in the future. One of these factors is foreclosures. The increased wave of foreclosures has given banks a higher inventory of these properties.

In turn, the banks have become eager sellers, wanting to get their foreclosed properties off the books as quickly as possible before prices fall again. However, the surplus of motivated sellers and a stale feeling coming from the potential buyers has locked a number of potential sales. As long as the lock continues, the prices on the properties themselves continue to drop down.

Rising energy and fuel costs coupled with poor mortgage situations have been to blame for the rise in foreclosures. However, so long as this trend continues, the drop in prices will follow suit. In addition, there is the question of over-saturation.

During the real estate boom years, new housing developments sprang up quickly and were bought even faster. With the halt in the housing market, however, these projects are now additional surplus with reluctant buyers, leaving these homes vacant or worse, unfinished. As long as these trends continue, the prices in properties will continue to drop until more positive steps are taken.