Home sales across the triangle have shown a glimmer of hope, rising through the first quarter of 2009.

According to figures from the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors, home sales jumped up from 946 in January, to 1,171 in February and 1,530 in March.

"We're not seeing an increase in prices right now and interest rates are at historic lows," John Wood, president of the RRAR, said.

In other words, home buyers like Brian Mcenteer are getting a deal.

The new Holly Springs resident always wanted his own, brand new home.

"My real estate agents all told me theres so many existing homes out there," Mcenteer said. "I didn't want an existing home. I wanted my own stamp."

Last week, in the midst of a recession, he got his stamp, moving into a brand new home in the Holly Glen neighborhood.

"We knew we could get a deal," Mcenteer said about his move. "The scary part was selling our existing home, but we priced it right and it sold."

Realtors say more and more buyers like Mcenteer are coming out of the wood work.

"We're at a crazy spot right now because we don't have any finished homes that are unsold," builder Jim Garman said.

Business is going so well for the owner of Garman Homes that he's having to build more spec-homes, which are homes that are not already sold.

"It's hard because finished homes are what people want to see, but we've sold all of them," Garman said. "So we're very quickly trying to build as many as we can just to have new homes to show people."

Home sales have risen across the triangle for the past three months, but that doesn't mean there still aren't a lot of homes that need to be sold.

However, realtors say it is a big sign of hope.

"I think we're starting to see some things going on in the right direction," Wood said.

Wood said he is especially hopeful when he looks at the numbers.

If the market has hit a bottom, Wood said it is a fairly soft landing.

"Our market flattened out and yes it lowered to some numbers, some closing numbers that go back to 5 and 7 years ago, but the reality is in those years, we thought we were on fire," he said.

Business is coming back, but Wood said the recession will change the way people buy homes in the triangle in the future.

"We've historically in our market had builders have inventory through spec homes," he said. "We think that's going to go away for a while."

(Click on the middle picture above the video player to hear wood talk more about the future of the market in an extended interview.)

It's a change Garman said he is already starting to see.

"It's probably more difficult to get financing as a builder than it is for a consumer to get financing," he said.

That means more home-owners could end up like Mcenteer -- living in their own, custom built home.