Home sales in Kootenai County may be up 44 percent compared to last year at this time, but some industry observers say it's still too early to tell if the market is rebounding.

"If distressed properties come into some sort of perceived balance, I'd say we're rebounding, but until that happens I just can't say that," said Ray Murphy, an agent with North Idaho Real Estate.

"The people behind on their payments facing foreclosure and the number of short sales and repossessed homes are putting too much pressure on pricing to see prices begin to stabilize and rebound."

According to statistics released on Thursday by the Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service for Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, there were 186 single-family sales in Kootenai County compared to 129 last year, an increase of 44 percent.

The biggest jumps were in Coeur d'Alene/Dalton, which saw a 74 percent increase (54 to 94), and Hayden, which had an 86 percent hike (14 to 26).

Post Falls had an increase of 6 percent (48 to 51).

Pete Faust of Century 21 Beutler and Associates attributes the increase in sales to the extension of a tax credit program, continuing low interest rates and rural housing financing still available in Post Falls.

For February alone, about 71 percent of all sales were for homes less than $200,000. The average days on the market was 105, 24 days less than in 2009.

"The local housing market remains strong, especially at the entry level," Faust said.

New construction account for 17 percent of the sales this year, compared to 33 percent last year at this time.

The average price of homes sold countywide dropped 5 percent from $187,459 to $178,976.

In Coeur d'Alene, however, the average price increased 3 percent from $179,233 to $184,765. But that was due in part to sales of three homes of more than $1 million, Faust said.

The median price of homes sold countywide also decreased 5 percent from $168,500 to $159,450.

Murphy believes prices could drop a bit more due to the foreclosure market, but cautioned buyers.

"They don't ring a bell (when the market hits bottom)," he said. "If you wait for the bottom of the market, you're going to get killed by the interest rate going up."

Faust said it remains to be seen how well the market will do after tax incentives vanish.

"It will be interesting to see how it all pans out," he said.