WASHINGTON - The U.S. housing market is rebounding faster than expected.

The question is, can it last?

Home resales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. Sales jumped 7.2 percent and beat expectations, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Florida notched its 11th straight month of sales increases. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area reported existing homes sales spiked 30 percent.

"The housing market is back up and running and that is great news," wrote Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

Though homes sales have risen locally, it came at a cost. The midpoint of home sales prices fell 19 percent in July to $143,100. Condominiums, whose sales rose 39 percent, saw median sales prices fall to $98,000 from $147,300 a year ago.

Nationally, sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million in July, up from a pace of 4.89 million in June. It was the fourth straight monthly increase and strongest month since August 2007. Sales were expected to rise to an annual pace of 5 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The risks are unemployment, mortgage rates and the November end of the homebuyer tax credit. And that could be a doozy because first-time buyers are accounting for one-third of the purchases. First-time buyers get a credit of 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to $8,000. Singles must earn less than $75,000 and couples less than $150,000. The real estate industry is lobbying to have the credit extended, but it's unclear whether Congress will be swayed.

"I would not be at all surprised to see a dip at the end of the year once the tax credit expires," said Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group.

The home sales report was another sign the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery.