According to both the National Association of Realtors and The Pending Home Sales Index, homes sales were up in the month of March partly due to the typically strong Spring selling time period as well as the use of the home buying tax credit which appealed to many buyers.

The forward-looking home selling index rose 5.3 to 102.9 from 97.7 in February. In addition, the March 2010 home selling index was up 21.1% over the March 2009 index which was at just 85.0. This information reflects home sales and pending escrow contracts. The closings usually take place one to two months later.

In the short term, any good news is encouraging these days during our ongoing economic slowdown. We should all hope that the positive home selling trends continue in the near term.

The key to the continued home selling success may be tied to the directions of the national unemployment numbers which continue to be somewhat negative right now. Hopefully, the job market may improve later in the year which may improve the residential and commercial real estate markets even more.