Dive Brief:

• Demand for homes is picking up as the spring selling season approaches, with pending sales of existing dwellings reaching their highest level last month since June 2013, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

• NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a predictor of future sales based on contracts signed, rose 3.1% in February—to its highest level since June 2013. The index is 12% higher than it was in February 2014, marking the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.

• Home sales in the Midwest and West improved the most last month. Still, pending home sales dipped 1.4% in the South.

Dive Insight:

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the numbers indicate that demand for homes is rebounding as the spring selling season begins. In fact, the percentage of first-time homebuyers increased slightly for the first time since November 2014.

Yun credited an improving labor market and low mortgage rates for luring renters into homeownership.  “These factors bode well for the prospect of an uptick in sales in coming months,” he said in a press release.

Still, first-time buyers could have a hard time finding affordable homes for sale, as much of the country has a shortage of available properties at entry-level price ranges, Yun noted. “The return of first-time buyers this year,” he said, “will depend on how quickly inventory shows up in the market.”