ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) - Residential real estate experts say the looming fiscal cliff could be hurting the housing market.

Coldwell Banker Gundaker President Jim Dohr says prices were rising earlier in the fall, but are now leveling off.

“There’s so much uncertainty, what’s going to happen to the mortgage interest deduction, those kinds of questions. Until those are resolved I think there’s just a lot of uncertainty and it is keeping a lot of new people on the sidelines,” Dohr said.

He says the market will likely pick back up as soon as a deal is reached but House leaders say fiscal cliff talks won’t resume until Sunday night.

Dohr says even though home prices aren’t rising, there is a silver lining: the average number of days a home stays on the market has dropped about ten percent in the last year. He says that should encourage sellers to jump into the market.

And to those who are on the fence between buying and renting, Dohr says rents are increasing around the area while home prices aren’t.