April real estate activity in the Ann Arbor area continues several trends established so far in 2010: Sales for both homes and condominiums continue to climb over 2009 totals, and the dollar volume from those sales is generating hopes of a yearlong market rebound.

The sales activity is setting sales records among local real estate agents and their offices, a pace that many said should continue as the contracts signed by April 30 - the deadline for the federal homebuyer tax credit - are finalized in May and June.

“One thing we know for sure is that we will have more closings in the months of May and June than we’d have without the tax credits,” said Jeff Stabnau, manager of Real Estate One’s Ann Arbor office.

Unclear beyond that, however, is what kind of traction the local real estate market can sustain.

According to Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors data, the 297 home sales represented a jump of 14 percent in April over 2009, and condo sales jumped 141 percent to 87 sold units. Forty-seven of those condos were in Ann Arbor.

“April was the biggest month in the history of our company in terms of new contracts,” said David Lutton, president of Reinhart Realtors.

His agents say many of their clients continue to shop the market despite the end of the tax credit.

“Our people are optimistic that the market will continue to be stronger (than 2009) though not as strong as the last two months,” Lutton said.

Sales activity for the first week of May bear that out, he added.

“It was smaller than any week in the month of April,” he said.

Pricing also appears to continue to be stable, with the monthly median sales price going from $130,000 in 2009 to $150,000 this year.

In addition, data from Affinity Valuation Service shows that the sales price per square foot for homes fell about 2 percent in Ann Arbor over the past year. That number also suggests stability, due to the volume of sales toward lower price points during the tax credit period, said Peter Hendershot of Affinity.

Realtors said they’ll be watching whether the tax credit causes prices to dip now that it’s over and buyers can’t count on what effectively generated up to an $8,000 subsidy.

“I have heard buyers say, ‘Now that the credit is gone, we’ll just offer less,’” Lutton said. “If everyone did that, we’d have lower prices moving forward.”

Still, many buyers continue to find themselves in competitive situations in today’s local market.

“The biggest situation we’re having is multiple offers on good properties,” Stabnau said.

Many agents speak of ongoing inventory pressures. Data from Martin Bouma, an agent with Keller Williams Ann Arbor, shows that the market appears balanced for homes listed for up to $400,000, with a supply on the market of 8 months or less.

Homes priced at above $400,000, he said, remain in a buyer’s market.

And even the jump in new listings - by 10 percent for homes and 24 percent for condos - may not accurately reflect new inventory coming onto the market, Bouma said.

“A lot has been re-listed,” he said, particularly among homes that were on the market at the end of 2009.

He cited the new listings coming through the AAABOR on Monday as an example: There were 34 new listings, but 16 were relists and seven were unsold condos at Ashley Terrace, which have been available for some time.

“That means that there were really only 11 new listings today, out of a total of 34,” Bouma said.

Agents also are waiting to see the impact of foreclosures and short sales this year.

Year-to-date data from the Washtenaw County clerk’s office shows that the number of homes foreclosed increased 14.9 percent, with a total of 463 sheriff’s deeds recorded through April.

Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.