Like anyone in the real estate business, mortgage bankers have April 30 circled on their calendars.

That’s when the federal homebuyers tax credit is set to expire, bringing an end to the program that gives cash for a home purchase.

It’s difficult to gauge the program’s effect in Memphis. While the past few months have seen a slight uptick in home sales and building permits, mortgage activity remains soft.

Shelby County saw just 419 purchase mortgages in February, a 2 percent decline from 428 in February 2009 and a 6 percent decline from 447 in January, according to the latest data from Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com. (Data for this report didn’t include refinances.)

Mortgages averaged $144,232, down 4.4 percent from $150,804 in February 2009 but up 0.7 percent from $143,182 in January. Last month’s total dollar volume of $60.4 million was shy of February 2009’s $64.5 million and January’s $64 million.

But because the numbers didn’t reveal a huge dropoff, the mood among industry professionals is that the market is improving, said Sam Goff, mortgage originator at Evolve Bank and Trust and president of the Memphis Mortgage Bankers Association.

“It seems to me from the activity that we’re seeing … that the market is indeed starting to warm up a bit,” Goff said.

Goff said he recently spoke with an appraiser who told him that while driving through a neighborhood he heard what he initially thought was a gunshot. Instead, it was the sound of a builder hammering nails into a home frame – and it pleasantly surprised him.

“It is good to hear hammers going again,” Goff said. “For Memphis it means the existing inventory is getting pretty darn low. People are expressing interest in more new product. Of course the more builders that get back to work, the more jobs there are and the better it is for everybody.”

Michael Wiegert, vice president and mortgage production manager for Renasant Bank, agreed that although the year has gotten off to a disappointing start, as home sales and building activity improve, so should lending.

“Things have picked up for us,” he said. “January and February were both slow months as far as loan closings, but beginning near the mid- to latter part of February applications started picking up. And I’m anticipating in March we’re going to close loans that will be equal to January and February combined.”

The top lender in February was Community Mortgage Corp. with 56 loans averaging $134,588 and totaling $7.5 million. Magna Bank (24, $169,313, $4.1 million) and Patriot Bank (24, $164,287, $3.9 million) rounded out the top three.

One factor working against the industry for homebuying is the new disclosure rules for mortgage bankers, who must now deal with more paperwork when approving loan applicants.

It has slowed the entire process and provides a hurdle for mortgage activity moving forward.

For example, a “good faith estimate” has grown from one page to three pages and takes up to a day instead of 10-15 minutes.

“It has dramatically changed how everybody does business,” Goff said. “Does it help the consumer? I don’t think so.”

As for the homebuyers tax credit helping, that program is almost over.

Under the plan, $8,000 is available for first-time homebuyers who have bought or will buy their homes between Jan. 1, 2009, and April 30.

If a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, the purchase can be completed by June 30 to qualify.

Last fall Congress extended the initial deadline of Nov. 30, but it also expanded the program to grant a tax credit of up to $6,500 for current homeowners who have been in their homes consecutively for five of the previous eight years.

The repeat homebuyer tax credit applies to houses sold between Nov. 6, 2009, and April 30.

Like the first-time credit, if a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, the purchase can be completed by June 30 to qualify.

Keith Barger, executive vice president at Millington-based Patriot Bank, said the extension hasn’t proven to be as much a boon as bankers hoped.

“Since December we really haven’t seen it materialize in the same way,” Barger said. “Unless something really starts to happen in the next 90 days like it did last time – which it may – it hasn’t been anywhere near the level of interest that we’ve seen.”

Instead, Barger attributes his bank’s strong activity to low prices and low interest rates.

“(Our customers) feel like they can get out in the market and actually buy a home and get a good deal on it,” he said.

Chandler Reports is a division of The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc.