Spring generally ushers in an improvement in home sales. Families who want to move before the school year begins often look for new homes in the spring, and sellers jump at the chance to list their houses as soon as winter ends.

Local March activity lived up to that pattern and supported the idea that the market is returning to its historical pattern.

With 89 sales, March showed a slight upswing over January (49 sales) and February (67 sales), according to data compiled by Thyra Edwards of STS Marketing Group at Keller Williams Southwest Realty.

“While the resale market is tracking near historical norms, the levels should be well below those of the last few years, because the current market lacks the market frenzy to own and/or invest at almost any price and reasoning,” said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus.

“The general expectation is that the 2007 resale housing market should be a good year, but no where near the records, assuming that there are no negative geopolitical events and that the sub-prime problem remains fairly contained,” said Butler.

The National Association of Realtors expects about 6.34 million existing-home sales this year, down from 6.48 million in 2006.

“The good news is that inventories remain well below the levels experienced during the last housing downturn in the early 1990s, and supplies are close to balance in many areas," David Lereah, the group’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Robert W. Peirce, Jr., chief executive officer of the Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors, concurs.

“Now that the marketplace has settled into more normal conditions, we are seeing a steady pace of real estate transactions occurring in our area,” Peirce wrote in the association’s April newsletter.

“Those of us who have been in the business for several years are used to these correction periods.”

One consistent factor is that some people always want to sell and some people want to buy, noted Peirce.

“Did you know that approximately 300,000 people will be moving to Arizona this year? That approximately 200,000 will be moving out? A net gain of approximately 100,000. Do you see any opportunities here?” asked Peirce,

RE/MAX 2000 Realtor Lisa Murray has noticed an increase in activity from her Web site at www. ISellFountainHillsAz.com. Internet users outside the immediate area are viewing her listings and inquiring about the properties.

“I’ve been very busy,” said Murray, commenting that she has six home sales in escrow.

The inventory of homes for sale in Fountain Hills reached more than 850 the first week of April.

Realtors Bob and Suzanne Nann, formerly with SonoranLifestyle.com, have switched agencies and now concentrate on investment properties outside Arizona.

“We are trying to identify areas of the country with good appreciation potential,” said Bob Nann, now affiliated with Property Performers Group in Scottsdale.

The hot geographic market, according to Nann, is the southeast of the country. He attributed the activity there to Northeast residents wanting to move to warmer climates or buy second homes.

“Phoenix has topped out for investors,” said Nann, identifying Tennessee, the Carolinas and southern Virginia as active investment markets. The Coeur D’Alene region in Idaho has emerged as a popular investment resort area.

The average sale price for a single-family house in March was $733,501 in comparison to $515,372 for February and $541,666 in January 2007, according to the data provided by STS Marketing Group.

In the first quarter of 2007, 207 homes were sold. The figure broke down to 131 single-family homes and 76 multi-family dwellings.

The average days on the market were 161 days for a single-family home and 149 for a multi-family unit.