Austin-area existing-home sales rose 3.5 percent in February from a year earlier, the sixth year-over-year monthly increase in a row.

The Austin Board of Realtors said Thursday that 1,145 single-family homes were sold last month. The median price was $189,500, unchanged from a year earlier.

There were 1,738 sales in the pipeline to close in March, 24 percent more than a year earlier.

In Central Texas and across the country, home sales have received a boost from a federal tax credit that include $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for others, with certain income limits.

To qualify, the house must be under contract by the end of April, and the closing must occur by the end of June.