D espite continued economic malaise, job losses and economic uncertainty, Calgary's resale housing market surprisingly rebounded in April with sales increasing from the previous month.

"Spring is giving new life to the residential real estate market," said Bonnie Wegerich, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, which on Friday released its MLS monthly data for April.

"The people that we're seeing out there buying right now are a lot of first-time buyers. There's been enough incentives to help them out (such as the federal homebuyers' plan and the first-time buyer tax credit)."

She said lower house prices and low interest rates are drawing buyers back to the market, as well.

"Even though we're hearing about layoffs, if people feel their jobs are still strong, they're the ones out there buying,"said Wegerich. "There seems to be quite a bit of confidence. . . . Spring is coming and people are always excited in the spring to be looking for a house."

In April, there were 1,290 single-family home sales in the Calgary area, an increase of 19 per cent from 1,086 sales in March, but a five per cent drop from the 1,363 sales a year ago.

The number of condo sales for April was 579,a 30 per cent hike from the 446 condominium transactions recorded in March, but a 0.3 per cent decline from April 2008, when 581 condominiums changed hands.

The average price of a single-family home in the Calgary metropolitan area in April was$426,311, increasing of one per cent from March, when it was $420,354, but down 10 per cent from April 2008's $474,564.

The average price of a Calgary metro condo was $277,953 in April, off two per cent from the March price of $284,056, and an 11 per cent decrease from the April 2008 level of $312,586.

Wegerich said year-over-year declines are contracting.

Single-family new listings added in April totalled 2,010, down one per cent from the 2,023 new listings added in March, and a 40 per cent decrease from April 2008, when it was 3,377. New listings for Calgary condos were 967 in April, up seven per cent from March's 903, but off by 35 per cent from April 2008's 1,493.

Sales have increased on a monthly basis because of an improvement in affordability, said Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

"The mortgage rates right now are quite low. . . . When you combine that with prices, we're seeing about a 25 per cent increase in affordability. That's supporting purchases now."

Also, the number of new listings coming onto the market has been dropping significantly, he said.

"That tends to firm up the market balance and at the lower price end, we're noticing that the market is what we characterize in balanced conditions."

At the start of the year, said Louie, year-over-year sales were down 49 per cent in the Calgary census metropolitan area. In February they were off by nearly 36 per cent and in March they were down just over 24 per cent.