TAMPA - One question is on the minds of everyone in the market to buy a home: Will home prices continue to fall?

Homebuyers may get conflicting advice.

About 46 percent of the nation's real estate agents think home prices will stay the same during the next six months, according to a report released Monday from California-based HomeGain.

The report shows that 31 percent of agents think prices will decrease, and 23 percent think prices have hit the bottom and will start to increase.

Agents seem to be getting more optimistic. The first quarter survey showed just 11 percent expected prices to increase during the next six months. By the second quarter, that number had jumped to 22 percent.

HomeGain surveyed more than 1,000 agents across the country this month.

"The vast majority of Realtors expect prices to remain the same or increase in the next six months," said Louis Cammarosano, general manager of HomeGain.

The real estate company focuses on marketing and surveys agents quarterly to gauge what they are seeing in the market.

Agents who responded to the survey said they think lower inventory levels will help prices stabilize.

Only time will tell whether the agents are correct, but recent sales data do not show prices won't continue to fall. Monthly drops, though, have been getting smaller, and there even was a recent increase in prices.

The median sales price of existing home in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area fell 19 percent in July to $143,100 compared with the previous year, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

Even though yearlong comparisons show big drops, monthly changes do not.

The median sales price for single-family homes was $141,100 in May and $139,400 in June. Economists say it will be several months before they can say prices have stabilized.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.