SPARKS — Early summer has seen a jump in home sales, the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Sparks and Spanish Springs had 494 sales of existing single-family homes in the second quarter of 2010, an increase of 14 percent from 2009 and a 32 percent increase from the previous quarter. The median sales price for these transactions was $168,000, a decrease of 7 percent from last year and a 2 percent increase from the first quarter of 2010.

In the month of June, Sparks (including Spanish Springs) saw 188 sales of existing single-family homes, an increase of 12 percent from June 2009 and a 30 percent increase from the previous month. The Sparks median sales price for an existing single-family residence in June was $168,250, a 6 percent decrease from last year and a 2 percent increase from the previous month.

“As anticipated, we saw an increase in the volume of closed sales during the month of June, many by buyers who were attempting to get in under the June 30 deadline to close deals in order to qualify for the tax credit,” said Ken Amundson, 2010 president of Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. “It wasn’t until the midnight hour that Congress extended the deadline to those buyers who, through no fault of their own, were unable to meet the deadline.  As a result of that extension, buyers who qualified for the tax credit and were under contract by April 30, now have until Sept. 30, 2010 to close the transaction.

“Although we are remaining cautiously optimistic about the number of transactions in the pipeline and some price stabilization,” Amundson continued, “we need to continue to closely watch the year-over-year numbers and see continuing trends in leveling median sales prices before we can truly say we have reached the bottom.”

All sales numbers are for existing stick-built single family dwellings only and do not include condominium, townhome, manufactured, modular or new home sales.

The existing condominium/townhome median sales price for the 2010 second quarter in Sparks was $60,000, no change from 2009. The existing condominium/townhome median sales price for June in Sparks was $65,000, up 9 percent from last year.

RSAR obtains its information from the Northern Nevada Regional Multiple Listing Service (www.nnrmls.com) and includes sales of bank-owned (foreclosure) properties. For more information visit www.rsar.net.