There may be a shortage of jobs in mid-Michigan, but there's no shortage of houses.

"Unfortunately we (the Lansing area) have a 16-month supply of homes on the market," says Bill MacLeod, president of Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood Realty.

MacLeod says the past three months have been rosier than usual-- but that's little consolation to those trying to unload their biggest asset.

"Bad news is that home values are down so much, and that's due to foreclosures."

Home prices, in fact, are down 22 percent in the Lansing area from last year. That's great news for buyers, but for sellers, that's a bitter pill to swallow.

"There are people buying foreclosures getting a whale of a deal, but the average homeowner finds it impossible to compete against the foreclosure prices," MacLeod says.

"If we could take a snapshot right now of the housing market in Lansing, what would the caption say?" we asked MacLeod.

"Help!" he responds. "But help is coming."

And it could be coming in the form of help provided to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG, which real estate consultant Lane Barnett says could help joe potential homeowner get a mortgage.

"Mortgage money is available, and it's at historically great rates," Barnett says.

And MacLeod says our 16-month supply of homes could be put to good use if local companies make good on their promises to expand.

"Lansing has a whole lot of reasons to take off," he says, listing MSU, Delta Dental and Jackson National as a few companies with potential to positively affect our housing market. "If we start hiring, the housing market will turn around."

A new hope for what's becoming an old problem.