As home prices continue to drop, would-be buyers are waiting on the sideline, and local real estate watchers said many are waiting in rental properties.

Realtors have seen a significant increase in downtown Baltimore rentals in recent months with home sales consistently down 30 percent from 2007.

But last month, 148 rentals listed through the area’s multiple-listing service were closed in Baltimore City. That’s up 108 percent from the 71 closed in June 2006. In the same period, home sales have fallen 48 percent.

“That’s a big jump,” said Ross Mackesey, sales manager at Coldwell Banker Federal Hill. “What we’re seeing is a lot of houses that are listed for sale or for rent. At this point, [home sellers] want to stop the financial hemorrhaging.”

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Mackesey said June is usually a good month for rentals, with graduate students moving to the area for classes at local universities and recent grads looking for starter housing.

Rental properties included on the region’s multiple-listing service comprise only a portion of all rental offerings in the area, said Jody Landers, executive vice president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors.

According to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. data, 595 rental properties, with a median price of $1,500, were listed on the service as of Monday afternoon.  Landers said there’s no way to determine how many were listed in 2006 or whether the increase in rental closings tracks with a proportional increase in inventory.

“These rentals are falling on the high end, which makes me think they’re rehabs that people are renting out now,” Landers said. “My hunch is that you’re seeing an increase in the rentals because you’re seeing an increase in the number of properties that are being offered for rent.”

Renters might not sound as attractive to Realtors as homebuyers, but Cassidy said savvy agents can find ways to profit from them in the long run.

“A Realtor who serves a landlord and a tenant well, that business will come back,” he said.

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com