Home Depot has been struggling over the past few years, haunted by security breaches and lower-than-average sales, but recently the home repair chain reported that its sales numbers for 2015 are already looking positive.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Home Depot’s 7.1% sales increase, for the first period of 2015, is likely due to a stronger housing market.

After the Recession hit in 2007, the temporary collapse of the American housing market was closely followed by a weaker home repair industry.

Now that consumers have extra capital to spend, they’re purchasing new homes at a remarkable rate. Between new homeowners who purchased a fixer-upper and veteran homeowners who are finally getting their house ready to put on the market, the home repair industry has grown substantially.

Now that more homeowners can afford to splurge a bit, they’re more likely to focus on projects that will provide a great return on investment (ROI). Something simple, like a steel door replacement, provides an impressive 98% ROI and can be completed without the help of a contractor or repair service.

Reuters and CNBC state that the increase in sales was actually predicted by the company, considering that that past winter was a very long one and many cities (especially in the Northeast) were hit hard with snowstorms and freezing temperatures.

Home Depot’s stocks have reflected the company’s recent success, and revenue rose by 6% to reach nearly $21 billion over the past year.

The company had announced earlier this year that it planned on hiring approximately 80,000 employees, some as seasonal workers and some for permanent positions.