I just read the below in CNNMoney.com. It underscores what is being reported locally and is worth reading as a cheery contrast to the last year of gloom and doom. Once again, I expect this trend to continue as first timers start flooding the market to take advantage of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8000. The program ends on November 30, 2009.

Existing homes selling fast - record fast

The volume of home re-sales has been on the upswing for four consecutive months.

NEWYORK(CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes rose in July for the fourth consecutive month, lending support to economists who argue a recovery isnear.

Sales of previously owned single-family homes were up 7.2% compared with June and 5% from July 2008, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday. The monthly gain was the largest onrecord for existing-home sales, which NAR has tracked since1999.

"The housing market has decisively turned for the better,"said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "A combination of first-timebuyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales."

July home sales hit an annualized rate of 5.24 million properties, marking the first breach of the 5 million annualized rate mark since last September, when they hit 5.1 million. Since then, they have stayed in a very narrow range, bouncing between January's low of 4.49 million and October's high of 4.94 million.

The July performance far exceeded expectations: A consensus of real estate experts had forecast sales of 5 million.