Pending home sales in the U.S. saw a modest decrease in the month of February, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday, although pending sales remain near their highest level in almost three years.

NAR said its pending home sales index edged down by 0.4 percent to 104.8 in February after jumping 3.8 percent to 105.2 in January. Economists had been expecting the index to dip by 0.7 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

The modest drop in pending home sales in February came after the index reached its highest level since April of 2010 in January.

Despite the monthly decrease, NAR noted that pending home sales are up by 8.4 percent compared to the February of 2012, representing the 22nd straight month of year-over-year growth.