Dallas-Fort Worth home sales fell 5 percent in February.

North Texas home sales dropped 5 percent in February, the third month in a row that sales by area real estate agents were down from a year ago.

The local home market had rallied in the fall as first-time buyers scrambled to take advantage of a federal tax credit.

The federal incentive program was extended through April and broadened but hasn't caused a similar uptick in year-over-year home sales.

Real estate agents sold 4,099 preowned single-family homes through the Multiple Listing Service last month, according to statistics from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc.

Housing analysts say they still hope the federal tax credit, which Congress extended in November, will cause a bump in sales in the months ahead.

"If we don't see significant pickup starting in March, then the credit likely isn't going to have much impact on the housing market at all, and overall recovery will be slower and dependent on general economic improvement," said Dr. James Gaines, an economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M. "If this situation exists and the sales numbers continue to slide from last year, we're in for a very difficult year."

For the first two months of 2010, home sales in North Texas are down 5 percent compared with the same period of 2009.

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