Home sales have a spring in their step - Houston Chroncile April 23, 2010

Boosted by spring buying and a federal tax credit, Houston-area home sales climbed in March.

The uptick follows three consecutive months of declines.

Realtors sold 4,832 single-family homes in the area last month, according to a monthly report from the Houston Association of Realtors, which tracks homes sold through the Multiple Listing Service. That's up 10.8 percent from the same period last year.

Realtors credit the spring selling season, a looming deadline for a federal homebuying tax credit and a growing optimism about the economy.

To receive the tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 for move-up buyers, qualified buyers must have contracts in place by midnight on April 30 and close by June 30.

The tax credit had the greatest impact on homes priced at $250,000 and higher, said Margie Dorrance, the real estate agent association's chair and principal at Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan.

The start of the spring selling season is also likely helping, she noted, adding that spring and early summer months are usually strong for sales as families try to move before the start of a new school year.

Spring buying, she hopes, will help support sales as the federal tax credit program comes to a close.

“That's what I think and I hope, and I see no reason why that won't be the case,” Dorrance said. “We're not seeing any problems right now to cause us to think it will change.”

But what may happen after the credit expires and the spring buying season ends worries Evert Crawford of Crawford Realty Advisors.

“We have to wait and see,” he said. “There are a number of things that are of concern to me: the potential increase in interest rates, a new wave of foreclosures that we've got and this expiration of the tax credit.”

The number of foreclosures in Harris County sold at the monthly auction in early April climbed 52 percent to 1,180, up from 772 during the same month last year, according to The Woodlands-based Foreclosure Information & Listing Service.

Still, real estate agents are seeing hope as homeowners buy pricier homes.

During this time last year, lower-priced homes sold better, and activity in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range was slower, according to the Realtor numbers. This year it seems to be the opposite.

“I think it has a lot to do with the trade-up buyer,” said Mark Woodroof, a partner with Prudential Gary Greene Realtors. “Last year there weren't a whole lot of people in town that were out making a lot of big-ticket purchases — cars, houses anything like that. When they were looking at their investment portfolios and 401(k)s, everyone was getting creamed.”

A steady optimism seems to be brewing, Woodroof noted, but cautioned that the economic recovery and higher mortgage rates could slow future sales.

It's not just buyers who may be feeling better about the economy and housing market.

New listings of single-family homes jumped 34 percent to 11,399 in March, compared with 8,528 during the same month last year.

“Sellers were just as scared as buyers,” Woodroof said, adding that now sellers are feeling better, too.

Home prices continued to climb for the 11th straight month on a year-over-year basis, boosted in part by the sale of luxury homes.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more was up 49.5 percent.

Every price segment was up except for the lowest end of the market, which saw an 8.4 percent decline.

The gains helped boost the median price of a single-family home to $154,250, up 6.4  percent over the same period a year earlier.

Homes are also selling faster than this time last year. Homes stayed on the market an average 79 days, down from 95 days a year ago.

Reporter Nancy Sarnoff contributed to this report.