Growing consumer confidence and an increasing willingness among banks to make mortgage loans to those with good credit are helping Middle Tennessee’s housing market regain its footing after slipping during the recession.

“We may have seen the worst and are climbing back,” says Ross Winchel, broker with SilverPointe Properties.

In key areas of the housing market, the number of homes sold in February increased and the average price either went up or remained stable when compared with February 2010, according to a market analysis by Chandler Reports.

In Nashville, 524 homes were sold at an average price of $184,989. A year ago, 520 houses were sold at an average price of $185,096. The average home was 1,772 square feet last month, compared with 1,756 square feet in February 2010, Chandler reports shows.

February’s strongest housing market was in Williamson County, where 178 houses were sold at an average price of $358,732. In February 2010, 145 houses were sold in the county for an average price of $328,778. The average house last month was 2,494 square feet, slightly smaller than the average of 2,567 square feet last year.

Wilson County’s real estate market was weaker, with the number of sales and values down somewhat. Buyers took 92 homes off the market last month at an average price of $194,286. In February 2010, 94 homes were sold for an average price of $207,975, according to Candler Reports.

Winchel sees growing interest among home shoppers, which he thinks will get stronger as the weather improves.

“We’re seeing a lot of activity with buyers at open houses,” he says. “There’s some pent-up demand.”

Local banks seem to be keeping stringent credit requirements in place, but mortgage loans are available for home buyers with good credit scores, says Jeff Devereaux with First State Bank.

“I certainly would agree it doesn’t feel quite as strict,” says Devereaux, who believes banks “sort of overreacted” when they placed tight restrictions on lending at the height of the recession.

First State requires a credit score of about 620 for people applying for a mortgage, but the bank is willing to work with applicants who are slightly below that mark and need to repair their credit, he says.

Gavin Gossett, branch manager of Peoples Home Equity in Brentwood, says buyers are returning to the market.

“People have been hearing so much bad press. It’s not true,” he says. “This week it’s like the faucet turned on.”

The market could get a boost from recent steps taken by national mortgage lender Wells Fargo, which according to the National Association of Realtors is making mortgage loans more available by lowering its minimum required credit score to 500. Wells Fargo previously required a score of 600. Borrowers with scores of 580 to 599 must make at least a 5 percent down payment. Below 580 they must put at least 10 percent down and have a debt-income ratio of no more than 31 percent.

Those less-stringent credit requirements haven’t trickled down to smaller lenders, but if they do, sales should be stimulated, Devereaux says.

“That’s what it’s doing to take,” he says. “The other banks will follow,” he says.

Gossett and Devereaux both say it’s a misconception that potential buyers have to make huge down payments to buy a home. FHA loans are available for as little as 3.5 percent down and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loans are available with 100 percent financing. Veterans can qualify for 100 percent financing from Department of Veterans Affairs programs.

Sales should continue to improve as the spring buying season gets under way, says Gossett.

“Flowers are starting to pop out,” he says, and so are home buyers.