Here's the good news story we'd hoped to start the week with: home sales are up in Wilkes county. Not just a little, either, say local Realtors. According to monthly statistics compiled by the Wilkes Board of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service, the march home sales totaled $4.5 million. That's more than double February's sales and nearly 90 percent more than January. It was also a 21 percent increase over a year ago. The Journal-Patriot reports the average home sold for a bit over 150-thousand dollars in March.

"(Realtors in Wilkes) are a lot busier than we were. It seems to pick up every week," said Linda Zinger, president of the Wilkes Board of Realtors. Zinger said much of this increase is due to first-time home buyers taking advantage of a new federal tax credit. This economic stimulus measure lets first-time home buyers deduct $8,000, or 10 percent of a home's value from their federal income tax if they buy between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year. The credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their tax bill was less than that.

Realtors report that sales of part-time homes in mountainous areas of Wilkes are up, but not as much as full time residences elsewhere in the county. Inquiries from potential buyers about undeveloped mountain land in Wilkes have increased in recent months, but local Realtors said this hasn't yet translated to a corresponding increase in sales.