POSTED: Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 6:11pm
UPDATED: Friday, January 25, 2013 - 9:16am
RIO GRANDE VALLEY (NEWS CENTER 23) — It was a good year in 2012 for home sales in the U.S. as they reached the highest level in five years with more than 4.6 million homes which were sold.
Local realtors believe housing sales are picking up thanks to a slight improvement within the economy.
One contributor within the local housing market credits the new people who are relocating to the for some of those sales, especially those large numbers of new residents who are employed by government jobs.
Realtors say that some of the hot areas to buy include the city of Harlingen, it ranked number five in homes sales in the state according to the latest real estate sales quarterly report.
Overall, the valley saw slight increase in home sales in contrast to last year around this same time.
Harlingen and McAllen show lower numbers when it comes to foreclosures within the valley and higher home sales. However, Brownsville is still struggling, with the highest foreclosure rate here locally and with the least improvement when it comes to home sales.