Home sales were down this March compared to the same month last year. But the declines were less than they had been in the two previous months, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

The March sales thus followed the encouraging pattern that had emerged last month.

Sales fell by 28.65 percent this March, compared to 33.72 for February and 46.92 for January.

The March figures included decreases of 23.57 percent for single-family homes, 27.25 percent for townhouses and 36.86 percent for condos. This reflected sales of 535, 381 and 334, respectively, for a total of 1,250.

At the same time, the median sales price showed the deepest decline of the year, at 12.84 percent, to $401,380. For February and January respectively, it had fallen by 8.57 percent, to $410,500, and 12.09 percent, to $400,000.

The average number of days on the market remained about the same for March and February, rising by 7.92 percent 7.41 percent respectively, to totals of 109 and 116. Both showed a dramatic improvement over January, when the 20.59 percent increase meant a 123-day wait.

It all tends to justify the optimism of Realtors like Casey Margenau, who said, “Slowly this spring, buyers have been coming back into the market and buying the good values.”