While January is typically a slow period for real estate transactions, they were fairly common place this year, a new report suggests.According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales grew in January, totaling 4.9 million properties - a 9 percent increase when contrasted with the same period last year.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, illustrated just how ahead of the pace home sales are this year versus 2012."Buyer traffic is 40 percent above a year ago, so there is plenty of demand," said Yun. He added that what hasn't been moving at the same pace is inventory, which suggests that the market has transitioned to one that favors sellers as well as buyers.As for the national median existing-home prices for all housing types, values stood at $173,600 in January, up more than 12 percent from one year ago.Houston homes are faring better price wise, with average values jumping 3.4 percent in the first month of the year from 2012 to nearly $200,300 - that's the highest number ever recorded in Houston for January. Real Estate News brought to you by 2M Realty, a true expert in the online real estate market.