TAMPA - Builders are selling more new homes in the Tampa Bay area and nationally, a sign that home-buying incentives are working and the housing slump is starting to stabilize, according to two reports released Monday.

Bay area builders started construction on 915 homes during the second quarter of 2009, up 29 percent from the previous quarter, data from Houston-based housing research firm Metrostudy shows.

Housing starts are still down 30 percent compared with the same quarter in 2008, but Metrostudy's Tony Polito says the quarterly jump is a good sign for the local housing market.

"Builders have been trying different things to attract buyers, and it's paying off," Polito said. "The first-time homebuyer credit is making a big difference, too."

Also encouraging: The number of finished, vacant homes continued to dwindle for nine straight quarters.

There were 2,150 new homes - unsold and never lived in - across Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Citrus and Hernando counties by the end of the second quarter. That's down 27 percent from last June and down 54 percent from March 31, 2007.

National new-home-buying statistics look even better.

Purchases of new homes in the United States climbed 11 percent in June, the biggest gain in eight years, according to the Commerce Department.

Sales increased to a 384,000 annual pace, higher than economists had forecast. The number of houses on the market dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade.

Polito said June's jump locally likely can be attributed to seasonal trends. Home sales typically spike in northern cities in June as families try to relocate before the start of a new school year. Florida's seasonal jump typically happens later in the year, he said.

Aside from the rise in new home starts, Polito said he spotted another interesting trend: Buyers are gravitating toward homes priced under $200,000. He said he thinks that's because of the government's $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

Information from Bloomberg News was used in this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.