Pending home sales across the state ticked back up in February despite arduous weather conditions, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reported. 

According to MAR’s February Future Indicators Report, there was a 2.6 percent increase in accepted offers for single family homes since same time last year. The median price of accepted contracts was $317,500, up from $295,000 in February 2014.   

February single family pending sales rose to 3,066 compared with 2,987 in February 2014.

However, condominium pending sales declined last month for the second month in a row, falling 6.1 percent to 1,267 in February 2015, compared with 1,350 in February 2014.

"This just goes to show that people want to buy. Snow or no snow, it’s quite possible that the numbers would have been even higher if there were more homes for sale in February," 2015 MAR President Corinne Fitzgerald, broker-owner of Fitzgerald Real Estate in Greenfield, said in a statement. 

Despite the increase in pendings, agents’ confidence in the strength of the market dipped in February, with MAR’s Realtor Market Confidence Index falling 13 percent compared with the same time last year, to 54.48 from 62.79 in February 2014. The Realtor Price Confidence Index also slipped, declining 6 percent to 76.35 in February compared to 80.81 in February 2014.

Agents’ confidence in the market has been down 14 out of the past 15 months. Index numbers greater than 50 indicate belief in strong market conditions.

MAR asked agents how the snow impacted their buyer and seller clients. Regarding buyer clients, nearly 40 percent of agents reported that either all of their clients (16.8 percent) or most of their clients (22.9 percent) kept looking and making offers on homes despite the snow. Nearly 19 percent of Realtors who responded indicated that about half of their buyer clients kept looking for houses and making offers during February’s snow storms.  Thirty-six percent of the Realtors reported that all of their clients (3.6 percent) or most of their clients (32.9 percent) stopped looking and making offers because of the snow. A little over five percent of the respondents answered "not applicable."

Regarding sellers, half of agents responded that either all of their seller clients kept homes on the market/put their homes on the market (26.1 percent) or most of their sellers did (23.9 percent). Nearly 12 percent of agents responded that about half of their seller clients kept homes on the market/put their home on the market while 16.8 percent of agents responded that either most of their clients (15 percent) or all of their clients (1.8 percent) pulled their homes off the market or decided to wait until spring. Of the respondents, 21 percent were exclusive buyer agents and selected "not applicable."