The Texas real estate market has heated up in the past several months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas‘ recent Regional Economic Update.

Image by Klaus Tiedge/Corbis

For the first time since the expiration of the tax credit last year, home sales in the Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin metros showed improvements in January.

“The six-month moving average in all major metropolitan areas and the state as a whole increased in January for the first time since the  federal tax-credit program ended last April, suggesting the residential real estate market may have finally begun recovering,” says the Regional Economic Update.

The update also notes that the construction industry added jobs at a 1.4 percent annualized rate in January, while the time period needed to sell available inventory was estimated at 7.7 months, compared to 8 months in January.

Seriously delinquent mortgages in Texas (payments past due by 90 or more days) also dropped in recent months, from 3.4 percent of all mortgages in Q3 2010, to 2.9 percent in Q4.