Ontario real-estate agent Joyce Aragon is experiencing first-hand February's unexpected boost in existing home sales.

"We're seeing more first-time buyers... and newly-married couples coming in and getting pre-qualified and getting excited about the (federal tax) credit," said the All Nations Realty & Investments agent, who's also president-elect of Riverside-based Inland Valley Association of Realtors. "A lot of them are following through."
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes grew 5.1 percent from January to February to an annual rate of 4.72 million last month, from 4.49 million units in January. It was the largest sales jump since July 2003.

Besides bargain hunters, the association attributes the jump in sales to the federal government's $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit - and Aragon agrees.

"Every place I go to, I'm talking to young people in stores... young people who are saying they're able to purchase a home," she said. "That's exciting to hear."
Aragon said local real-estate professionals are adapting to the market. They're expecting foreclosures and short-sales to dominate the industry's bloated inventory levels for quite some time.
"They have to get used to it," Aragon said. "We're learning to reinvent ourselves to be able to thrive in this market. There are good real-estate agents who stayed and invested in themselves and learned to do what they gotta' do."

Sales had been expected to fall to an annual pace of 4.45 million units, according to Thomson Reuters.
The median sales price plunged to $165,400, down 15.5 percent from $195,800 a year earlier. That was the second-largest drop on record.

February's median sales price was up slightly from January, which recorded the lowest median price since September 2002. Prices are down about 28 percent from their peak in July 2006.

In contrast with the housing boom, when buyers took out ever-riskier loans and maxed out their home equity lines, "homebuyers are not overstretching" said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist. "They want to stay within their budget."