For the first time this year, sales in September were up month over month against 2007 and 2008, Texas A&M Real Estate Center reported this week.
Some of the credit for that may go to the federal stimulus program $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, according to local experts. That program is about to be extended through April 2010, they said.
In fact, President Obama endorsed the extension Thursday, along with an additional twist members of Congress are considering - a $6,500 credit for repeat buyers.
"There is no doubt the tax credit has had a favorable impact on our industry," Troy Glasson, director of legislative affairs for Temple Area Home Builders, said. "Just how favorable is what I believe the economic debates are focusing on at this time."
The first-time homebuyer credit is set to expire at the end of November.
"There is currently a great deal of anticipation about what Washington is going to do as far as the tax credit," Glasson said. "Will they continue it? Will they increase it? Will they expand it? I'd say the answers to all of these questions will play into how quickly the housing industry recovers."
Various wire services reported Thursday that opinion is almost unanimous in Washington that the $8,000 credit should be extended to the end of April, and that a $6,500 credit should be offered to repeat buyers. In addition, the reports indicate the credit would be available to a larger pool of people because earnings limits would be raised.
In Temple and Belton the numbers are going in the right direction after eight off months.
Realtors sold more homes in September and brought in more dollars, compared to the same month last year and two years ago.
However, the total dollar volume for the three quarters is down substantially. The number of homes sold through September this year is down 5.4 percent from last year and down 14 percent from 2007.
The best sales month this year was May, when 194 residences were sold for nearly $28 million. June followed with 191 sold for $27 million.
The average price paid for a home in September was $130,000. Last September, the average was $138,000, and it was $131,000 in September of 2007. The median price was in the range of $113,000 all three years.
"This is one of the best times I've ever seen to buy a house," John Morrison, president of the Temple-Belton Board of Realtors, said Thursday.
Across the nation, home prices are dropping. Since 2006, home prices in the United States have dropped by 30 percent through August, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, cited in a MarketWatch posting by John Spence on Thursday.
In the Temple metropolitan area, which includes Belton and Killeen, prices increased by nearly 5 percent from August 2008 through this past August. First American CoreLogic reported that number Thursday.
That company's statisticians also predict that home prices will rise here by less than 1 percent through next August.
