The housing bubble led the way for the recession and nowhere was the drop worse than here in Nevada.

So, as signs of recovery emerge, where does our housing market stand today?

"The sales volume is up from last year substantially, more than 40 percent, approaching 50 percent," says Ken Amundson, the president elect of the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. "So, the number of transactions is up. The difference is the pricing has gone down."

That's the good news and the bad.

The crash in home prices has made median priced homes affordable to people with median incomes, something we haven't seen in recent years. Those who bought homes during the boom times are going to have to wait longer for their good news...as will the home building industry.

"We still have homes to sell and we still have more to go. We need jobs and income for individuals to soak up that market," says Amundson who figures that turn around is still several months off.

In the meantime he advises caution. it all depends on your motivation.

"The buyer buying for the right reason, 'I want a home. I want a nice place to live and raise a family,' this is a good time for that because there are both incentives and pricing that's affordable and sustainable in a market that's rational as opposed to some of the unnatural things we might have done years ago."

But it's still risky for those buying for investment.

One thing helping sales at the moment is the federal government's tax credit for first time buyers. Amundson figures it's accounting for 10 to 20 percent of the sales. The program is due to expire at the end of November. Senator Harry Reid today signed on to proposals to extend the credit another six months. Amundson says that would be a good idea.

"Losing the tax credit would slow down recovery."