Here are the highlights of the story.

The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to purchase a previously occupied home in April posted the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years, a sign that sales are finally coming to life after a long and painful slump.

Casey Serin For Sale By Owner

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3, far exceeding analysts’ forecasts. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent.

The index was 3.2 percent above last year’s levels and has risen for three straight months after hitting a record low in January.

A nearly 33 percent sales increase in the Northeast and a 9.8 percent jump in the Midwest led the overall surge. Sales contracts rose 1.8 percent in April from a month earlier in the West, but fell 0.2 percent in the South.

The big boost likely reflects the impact of a new $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was included in the economic stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama in February.

Since buyers need to finish their purchases by Nov. 30 to claim the credit, “we expect greater activity in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement.

A lot of the activity is related to foreclosures and while contracts are up there is still likely to be a higher turnover in these pending deals as banks fail to negotiate prices with potential buyers.  The news regardless is good, but still doesn’t exactly point to a bottoming out in the market.  Notice of that will likely come too late for those waiting for the nebulous “absolutely best” deal, because you usually don’t know that the market has bottomed until it’s already back on the rise.  Timing this market is akin to reading tea leaves.

We have said it before and we will say it again, if you find a property you love, at a price that seems fair, you should grab it.  There is nothing that says that your Florida dream home is going to be available if and when you come to believe that the market has cratered.  Rates are low, prices are low, (even if not yet the lowest).  If you find a Florida property that you love, grab it up!