The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reports that March pending home sales were up 46 percent compared to the same time last year. Condominium pending sales were also up. Pending sales figures (also called homes under agreement) are a leading indicator of actual housing sales in Massachusetts for the following two to three months.

"A lack of inventory continues, but buyers pushed pending sale activity forward in March," 2013 MAR President Kimberly Allard-Moccia, broker-owner of Century 21 Professionals in Braintree, said in a statement. "Several weekend storms kept a good percentage of buyers inside in February, so it was encouraging to see activity pick back up in March."

The number of single-family homes put under agreement in March was up 4.6 percent compared to the same time last year (4,118 homes in 2012, compared to 4,308 homes in 2013). It was the best March, in terms of number of sales under agreement, in eight years.

Single-family homes put under agreement were up 46 percent, compared to 2,960 homes put under agreement in February 2013.

The number of condos put under agreement in March was up 9.4 percent compared to March 2012 (1,725 units in 2012, compared to 1,888 units in 2013). This is the 23rd straight month of year-over-year increases. On a month-to-month basis, condos put under agreement went up 48 percent from 1,279 units in February 2013.