FRANKLIN—Sales of existing homes in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the City of Franklin more than doubled from February to March.

The sale of homes in the region also jumped 73 percent in March compared to one year ago, according to Real Estate Information Network, which serves real estate brokers in the Tidewater /Hampton Roads area.

The median sales price for a home in March 2009 was $158,500. For March 2010, the median price dropped to $152,500, up from $140,000 one month earlier.

James Pritchard, spokesman for REIN, attributes February’s low home sales to the weather.

“The numbers from January and February were very poor for various reasons, the most notable being the snow,” Pritchard said. “Sales have been steadily increasing in the MSA (region) since then.”

The region received 6 to 9 inches of snow the last weekend in January and another 4 inches in some areas the following weekend.

For the Hampton Roads region, existing home sales increased by 17 percent in March when compared to one year earlier, according to a news release from REIN. The median home price declined 2.4 percent to $200,000.

The real estate market in Hampton Roads rebounded from relatively flat sales in February to post solid growth in many categories in March. Included in the rebound were under contract sales, settled sales and the median settled sales price.

Meanwhile, the number of active listings and newly listed properties increased in the area causing the month’s supply of inventory to climb for the third consecutive month.

Under contract residential sales jumped over 34.5 percent to 2,091 when compared to March 2009. This spike points towards an increase in future sales possibly bolstered by the impending end of the home buyers’ tax credit at the close of April.

All seven major cities in Hampton Roads experienced double-digit percentage gains in under contract home sales when compared to March 2009.