Homes sales nudged up again last month in Dallas, Polk and Warren counties, triggered in part by a federal program that provides a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers.

“We think that’s a little bit of good news for us,” said Kurt Schade, president of the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. “We’re starting to see a trickle-down effect of the stimulus package.”

Area realtors had reported an increase in offers to buy the weekend after the stimulus was signed into law on Feb. 17.

The Realtors association reported that 591 contracts were written in February and 387 deals were closed, with an average sale price of $160,375. In January, 508 contracts were written and 301 were closed at an average price of $147,951.

The number of homes listed for sale increased to 5,530 in February from 5,423 in January. The average number of days a home was listed for sale was 106 last month, nearly the same as in January.

The majority of homes sold last month – 76 percent – were priced at less than $200,000.

Schade said the lower prices appeared to be another result of the stimulus package.

“We’re hoping that prices will start moving up in our marketplace,” he said.

The number of sales and listings are below year-ago levels, but the average sale price has increased slightly. In February 2008, the association reported that 653 contracts were written and 539 were closed at an average price of $158,606, with 6,469 homes listed for sale.

In all of 2008, 8,092 homes were sold in the association’s three-county area for an average sale price of $168,952. They were on the market an average of 96 days.