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May sales of single-family homes jumped 24% compared to a year earlier. That’s the biggest monthly increase since last August. Average and median prices for single-family homes both broke records, while the total dollar volume of home sales reached its highest level since June of 2008.

“People have been hoping that something like this, they’ve been expecting something like this could happen. It finally did. It’s really big.”

Ralph Bivins is editor of Realtynewsreport.com. Bivins says the Houston area’s strong job growth supercharged the spring buying season, traditionally the peak period for home sales. He also says the backlog of foreclosures that was depressing prices has now largely worked its way through the market.

“So there’s a lot of people ready to buy. The inventory’s getting smaller. Sales are going up. Prices are going up. And of course the interest rates are still super low, sixty-year lows.”

May marked the twelfth month in a row of home sale increases for the Houston area.