Charlotte-area home sales improved in May over the month before, new data from the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association show.

About 2,190 houses, townhouses and condos sold in the Charlotte region last month, up nearly 17 percent from April, according to the report released Thursday. That was down about 12 percent from May 2010, when sales surged in response to the government's homebuyer tax credits.

Meanwhile, pending sales - signed contracts that haven't yet closed, a good measure of current housing activity - climbed about 2 percent from April and nearly 14 percent over the May 2010 level. The data come from the Realtor association's Carolina Multiple Listing Services, which accounts for nearly all sales in the Charlotte area.

"I think we have reached the bottom, and we're on our way out," said Laurie Knudsen, association president and Realtor with Helen Adams Realty.

The latest MLS report marks a turnaround from April, when home sales fell. Knudsen said that's partly because foreclosures and short sales are beginning to be absorbed, decreasing the area's inventory of existing homes.

Her office is seeing more showings, a sign that consumers might be less hesitant to buy. In addition, "there's always something about the spring that brings out that nesting instinct in people," she said.

Despite the uptick in sales, home prices remain weak, signaling continued challenges in the housing market. Foreclosures, tight lending standards and lingering economic uncertainty are among the factors fueling the slow rebound, and experts say it could take a year or more for prices to begin climbing again.

The average selling price in the Charlotte region in May was $208,999, up about 3 percent from April and up 0.6 percent from the year before, the MLS data show. But that's still down about 7 percent from May 2008, shortly after the recession began.

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a closely watched real estate report, showed home prices in the Charlotte area fell in March to their lowest level since the real estate bubble burst.

Prices in the metro area slid 2.4 percent from February and 6.8 percent from March 2010 - the fourth straight month Charlotte-area prices hit a new bottom, and part of a long-anticipated double dip in the national housing market, the Case-Shiller report found.

Knudsen said Case-Shiller data don't always reflect the most recent market trends, and because they cover such a broad region, might miss some patterns occurring locally.