By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor

It was only four houses, but to Ann Fitzgerald, president of the Greater Tyler Area Association of Realtors, it perhaps marks the beginning of an upswing in the home-sales market here.

Not since December 2007 has the Tyler area seen an increase in home sales in a month compared with the same month the previous years, Ms. Fitzgerald said.

But that all changed in June.

The Tyler area saw 299 home sales last month, up from 295 in June 2008, according to association figures.

It followed the slowest May in six years for Tyler-area home sales, according to Texas A&M Real Estate Center data.

May, historically among the year's strongest months, saw just 216 units sold, down from 221 the previous month and 231 in March. It also marked a 37 percent decline from the 345 homes sold in May 2008.

While June sales showed an increase from last year, they still did not match the brisk sales seen from 2004 to 2007, which averaged about 340 homes sold in June of those years.

Meanwhile, average sales prices have increased steadily this year, with the exception of February.

Average prices grew to $163,433, a 16.3 percent from January's $140,568, according to association figures.

Previously, February, with an average sales price of $153,327, was the only month to see an increase over the previous month, although that figure fell to $147,626 in March.

But Ms. Fitzgerald said median prices have been more telling.

The median price in June was $138,000 -- almost an 18 percent increase from January, with a median price of only $117,000. However, it still lagged behind the $142,700 from June 2008.

But the increase in sales could match national realty experts' predictions of a turnaround in the second half of this year, an improvement that could wind up making 2009 at least as good as 2008, Ms. Fitzgerald said. "It's not much," she said of the June improvement. "Even though it's a little bit, I think that's a wonderful sign.

"It's a tremendous sign for us that our sales are picking price. Our prices are coming down a little bit. Then it's a matter of the consumers seeing the price coming down and saying, 'Maybe I should buy.'"

Ms. Fitzgerald said dropping home prices combined with low interest rates mean that a better time to buy a house might not be seen anytime soon, if ever.

Interest rates, which dipped below 5 percent earlier this year, are falling again after creeping toward 6 percent, according to www.bankrate.com.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan as of Tuesday was 5.3 percent, down from last week's 5.36 percent.

"As our prices come down, we're hopeful that we'll see our sales come up," Ms Fitzgerald said. "If the sales pick up, we could be OK.

"We're optimistic that maybe that's happening. The activity level is still very good, as far as calls coming in and

agents showing. Everything seems to be lining up in the right direction for us."