The average price of a home sold in 2006 in Elkhart County was more than $125,000. Today, it's about $98,000.

The conditions have definitely made it a buyer's market, according to real estate and mortgage professionals.

"It's a really good time to buy," said Barb Swartley, a Realtor with Century 21 Landmark Realty and president of the Elkhart County Board of Realtors.

She said there's about a two-year inventory of homes on the market "and not nearly the pool of buyers we've had in the past."

Foreclosures and "shadow inventory," or those homes in pre-foreclosure, add to the number. She said she heard recently that 40 percent of homes sold nationwide in the past year were foreclosures or short sales.

And even with the county's high unemployment and foreclosure rates, homes are being purchased.

"Some of the programs have changed a little bit," said Bill Curl, Mutual Bank's lending manager for Elkhart and Kosciusko counties.

Where banks used to be able to finance homes up to 100 percent of the cost, now buyers have to put down at least 5 percent, Curl said, although an FHA program offers 3.5 percent. He explained that credit scores have been tightened as well. "The programs are still out there, but to be honest, they've tightened up a little bit on credit. Credit is a little bit important right now," Curl said.

The most important thing, he said, is to talk to a lender when you begin looking for a home. It might be able to help you immediately or tell you what to work on so you can buy or refinance down the road, he said.

The advice is similar to someone having a difficult time making payments on what they have. "We're trying to do everything we can to not take that house back," Curl said. "Sometimes they don't listen to everybody and they don't even talk to the bank."

A lender can't always help, but sometimes it can.

Both experts are optimistic about the future.

"I'm feeling an increased energy right now," Swartley said. "It seems there are people out looking or thinking about moving in the spring."

In addition, tax credits available until the end of April are making buying attractive as well, she noted. First-time home buyers may be eligible for credits of up to $8,000, while someone who's been in their home for five years or more and trades homes may be eligible for a $6,500 tax credit.

Curl doesn't see an increase this year, but it in the future. "I would say probably this year is going to be kind of a steady market," he said. "I don't see a lot of increase in sales and that, especially if the stimulus package is not extended again. Down the road, people understand what's going on and I do think the market will turn around.

"It always has and I don't see a reason why it wouldn't," he said. "This year is going to be kind of a slow market."

Owning a home is still an investment.

While the bubble burst, Curl said, home values can act a lot like the stock market. They went up and then down and they will go back up again, although maybe not as rapidly as they did in the past. "I still think it's a good investment," he said.

Swartley warns that equity in your home isn't real until you actually use it.

"It's an investment, but it was never a very liquid investment in that given any particular economic climate, you may or may not be able to get your money out of that home," Swartley said. "What we've experienced here and across the country, really, is that housing prices have fallen pretty dramatically. Equity was never a real thing. The equity is never real until you can use it."