BOSTON -- The Greater Boston real estate market may have hit rock bottom in January, but sales are looking up with a 105.3 percent increase since then.

The market is now considered a "moderate sellers' market" with unsold listings down 40.1 percent since January and a 27.1 percent increase in sales prices since March, according to data compiled by HouseSavvy analysts in Norwell. A sellers' market occurs when houses don't stay on sale very long before they are sold.

"It kind of sheds some light . . . on a return to consumer confidence," HouseSavvy Vice President J.T. Price said.

Gregory Vasil, Greater Boston Real Estate Board CEO, said the increase in sales is "almost akin to a hot market" because people are always looking to buy homes at the lowest prices, and those prices are about to come back up.

"That first night [in a new home], you look at the ceiling and say, 'Could I have gotten it for less?'" Vasil said. "Maybe you could, maybe you couldn't. If this is the house for you, the time to buy is now."

The stock market uptick and President Barack Obama's $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, which the governor's office announced Tuesday that it will deliver to residents upfront, will both contribute to consumer confidence, Vasil said. This means houses have reached their lowest prices and are about to come back up.

Some counties are doing better than others, however, such as Middlesex, which had a 141.15 percent sales increase since January, according to the HouseSavvy report. Sales prices, however, have risen uniformly for the past three months.

"The best news of all is that all counties are posting an increase in average sale price," HouseSavvy analyst Walter Hall said. "This has not been seen in over 12 months."

When houses sell for higher prices, it means that people are willing to pay more money, Vasil said. This correlates with having more money to spend and being more confident about spending it, both of which are signs of an improving economy.

The Greater Boston housing market, which is comprised of 167 cities and towns around Boston, has experienced a fifth straight month of improvement and is one of the strongest in the country, according to a prepared HouseSavvy statement.

"We are optimistic that the current improvement will continue moving us in this very positive trend line, " Hall said.

Boston's housing market is doing better than those in other places in the country because it doesn't have a huge supply of inventory to make supply exceed demand for homes, lowering the prices further, Vasil said. This happens because it doesn't have a huge supply of developable land, and the permitting process takes especially long in its ordinances and towns.

"In this situation, it's helped preserve our price," Vasil said. However, high prices can sway people and businesses from moving to Boston because employees must make more money to live in more expensive homes.

Before sales picked up, the market had experienced nine months of decline, six of which included a decline in average sale price.

Only 2,419 homes were sold in January 2009 in six Massachusetts counties, compared with the 3,320 home sales last month, according to another HomeSavvy report. June 2009 was actually an improvement over June 2008, during which only 3,151 homes sold.

Overall, the housing market is a good economic indicator, Vasil said.

"I think the housing market is important because everyone needs a place to live," he said. "If you're worried about consumer confidence, the biggest purchase people will make in their life is a house. I think that's a pretty big sign if people are willing to take a risk -- if they are buying a house."