If you only focused on the big headlines in the past week, you probably noticed that home resales were down by two percent nationwide during March. That didn't sound good -- certainly not for the start of the spring selling season.

But when you take a closer look at last week's numbers, you find that resales were actually UP in large parts of the country -- sales in the Northeast states, for example, jumped by 2.3 percent, and in the Western states they were up by 2.2 percent. The national numbers that dominated the press were dragged down by a 6.5 percent drop in resales mainly in one part of the country -- the Midwestern states, where economic and employment problems continue to be tough.

Another market niche that did surprisingly well but got little attention: Condominiums, which saw a 3.6 percent jump in sales. That was on top of a 3.7 percent increase the month before.

Then there was the surprise of all surprises -- again, with little public attention: Home prices. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight -- the government agency that tracks price movements in a giant portfolio of millions of homes financed and refinanced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- reported a six tenths of a percent GAIN in average home values.

On top of that, the National Association of Realtors reported the median price of home sales in March rose to $200,700 -- that was up from a revised $195,600 in February. There were significant increases in median prices in a number of metropolitan areas, including Austin, Texas, Des Moines, Iowa, and Durham, North Carolina.

Mortgage money at affordable rates clearly helped power some of those sales and modest gains in prices. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and 15-year money averaged 5.6 percent.

What's the takeaway here? Have we turned the corner and seen the end of the correction phase of the cycle? No, we're not making that call quite yet.

The 10-month unsold inventory is still a leaden weight -- and there are still some downward price adjustments ahead in the local markets that were driven by speculators during the boom years.

But the fact is: In many areas, and in some product niches like condominiums, the national headlines do not describe the local or regional realities. Thanks to lower prices and affordable mortgage rates, sales in those areas are up, not down.

Buyers see real opportunities and are writing contracts. And smart sellers are closing sales.

Published: May 1, 2008

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Kenneth R. Harney writes an award-winning, nationally-syndicated column on housing and real estate from Washington, D.C. He is also managing director of the National Real Estate Development Center, a professional education company. He is a past member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, a committee that by federal statute reviews all Fed actions on home mortgage, consmer credit and banking industry regulation. He served as a member of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Working Group on Computerized Loan Origination (CLO) systems, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Fannie Mae Foundation's journal, Housing Policy Debate. He is the author of two books on mortgage finance and real estate.