Yet another month of positive sales data in Houston have many expecting a 2012 takeoff for the market.

January marked the eighth consecutive month of positive home sales in Houston, with sales in the state increasing 9.2 percent from 2011 and 4.8 percent from December, according to the latest statistics from the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR).

Wayne A. Stroman, HAR’s chairman, said the optimistic numbers from January bode well for the 2012 summer buying season, a perspective supported by January’s 6 percent increase in pending home sales.

“The January report shows continued strength in the Houston housing market that we began seeing in the latter part of 2011, and it gives us cause for optimism as we look ahead to the typically active spring and summer buying months,” Stroman said. “We have also seen more jobs being filled locally and you generally don’t experience a strong real estate market without healthy employment.”

Median price was also positive for Houston home sales in January, which rose 0.9 percent year-over-year. The next Case-Shiller, which is due out next Tuesday, is expected to show further price declines nationwide, but Houston’s sale market has resisted those trends.

Foreclosures continued to make up a decent portion of sales, comprising 27.8 percent of all property sales and increasing by 22 percent from January in 2011. As a result, inventories dropped to their lowest level since December 2009, falling to 5.7 months of supply.