CHAMPAIGN – Champaign County housing sales this year are off to a better start than last year, according to figures from the Champaign County Association of Realtors.

Sales of 115 homes closed in February, up from 106 in February 2010, statistics from the association's Multiple Listing Service show.

The dollar volume of those sales was also up – $14.4 million, compared with $12.3 million a year ago.

January's figures were also up, both in unit sales and dollar volume. So far this year, sales on 222 homes have closed, for total volume of $29.8 million.

That compares with 194 home sales closed in the first two months of 2010, for total volume of $24.9 million.

Max Mitchell, the association's president, hopes March figures will trend up as well. But he noted there's no longer a tax credit for first-time home buyers, as there was last year.

"That's one of the things we don't have available today to take advantage of," he said.

Interest rates remain "favorable" to buyers, however, with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages available in the 5 percent range. That's slightly lower than it was a month ago, he said.

Tom Roth, senior loan officer at Summit First Financial, said homebuyers have faced tighter underwriting guidelines in recent years. He said prospective borrowers' credit scores affect the conventional-financing rates they can get.

"It takes a higher credit score now to get the very best rate," Roth said. A few years ago, borrowers needed a 20 percent down payment and a credit score above 700 to get the best rates; now a 25 percent down payment and 740 credit score are needed, he said.

Interest rates remain near record lows, Roth said. Despite dropping in the last month, interest rates have increased about a half-percentage point in the last 90 days, he said.

Mitchell said some area buyers are taking advantage of Federal Housing Administration loans that require down payments of only 3 percent of the purchase price. But those loans may not be available for long.

"The federal government is thinking it does not want to be in guaranteed loans," he said. "At some time in the future, you may not be able to be involved in these."

People outside the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area might want to consider USDA Rural Development loans, which provide 100 percent financing, Mitchell said. But prospective borrowers should check with lenders first to find out whether that money is available.

Mitchell said 1,911 single-family residential units were on the market in Champaign County as of Tuesday. The median listing price for those homes was $139,000, and they had been on the market an average of 130 days.

The Multiple Listing Service figures cover single-family homes in Champaign County and some parts of Douglas and Piatt counties.

Mitchell said the hot topic among real estate agents these days is "seller expectations" and how overblown those can be.

"(Sensible) sellers are not going to price the way they would have priced in 2005," he said.

In pricing their homes, they should look at what homes in their neighborhood sold for in the last 90 days – not what they sold for two years ago, he said.

That way, the house may catch the eye of buyers who have been in the market a while.

"Buyers tend to become experts on whatever price strata they're looking in," Mitchell said.

Sellers should also make sure homes look their best, he said. That may involve decluttering the interior, neutralizing wall colors, making needed repairs and having a professional come in to rearrange furniture so the place looks inviting to prospective buyers.