In the 15-county Northeast Ohio market, February sales had already outpaced January by about 10%, and the new March numbers are more than 40% higher than February - though the Spring months are the traditional start of the home buying season.
Increased sales seemed to indicate buyers flocked to the housing market the last two months to take advantage of the federal home buyer tax credit program, which expires next week.
But Ohio Association of Realtors president Doug McCloud says the six-to-eight thousand dollar possible tax credit is only `one' reason why home sales increased statewide.
He says combining tax breaks with lower mortgage interest rates, and pent-up demand - all deserve credit for the buying rush.
DOUG McCLOUD:
"Over the last couple of years, people weren't getting into the market, they weren't buying, but they were still getting married, they were still having kids; life was going on - and due to the fact that the unemployment rate has pretty well stabilized, that gives a little bit more consumer confidence."
McCloud says the state as a whole has posted six consecutive monthly gains in average PRICE, which has allowed some people whose homes were worth less than they owed on their mortgage - to move on.
In Northeast Ohio, home prices have increased more than 23% since March 2009, third largest gain of the state's 20 regions.
Rick Jackson, 90.3.
