Home prices held steady in the Baltimore region in February, as the sales pace continued to pick up, with more homes sold last month than in any February since 2007.

It was the 15th month in a row of double-digit, year-over-year sales increases, with 2,248 deals closing in the metro area — a nearly 21 percent gain, according to an analysis released Thursday of MRIS data by ShowingTime RealEstate Business Intelligence.

The median home price for Baltimore and the five surrounding counties was $225,000 last month, unchanged since last year.

More widespread price appreciation could occur this spring, if active listings continue to fall as expected, said Jonathan Hill, vice president of marketing at MRIS, the region's multiple list service.

“We're definitely seeing a good amount of listings coming into the inventory, but they're being consumed,” he said. “We're definitely heading into that seller's market territory.”

Seller's markets, in which homes for sale are scarce, often lead to price appreciation.

There were nearly 4,000 new homes listed in February, up about 12 percent year-over-year. Yet active listings fell nearly 6 percent, to 10,556.

“The houses that are well-priced and show well are selling quickly,” said John Kessler, a real estate agent based in Timonium. “I get the sense that the market's definitely picking up.”

Despite the activity, Kessler said he doesn't expect prices to appreciate much more than a few percentage points.

“The buying public is not stupid,” he said. “They're looking at the comparable sales and they're willing to give a good house an extra push, but they're not going to overpay.”

Baltimore County, where the median price increased 7 percent to $214,000, was the only jurisdiction to see significant appreciation in February.

There were about 632 bank-mediated sales — largely foreclosures — in the Baltimore region in February, according to the MRIS data. That was an increase of about 20 percent from the year before, but the same share of overall sales.

nsherman@baltsun.com