These are all true...

[1]  Contract Activity Up 5% In October 2023 Compared To October 2022.

[2]  Contract Activity Down 51% In October 2023 Compared To October 2021.

[3]  Contract Activity Down 24% In October 2023 Compared To Pre-Covid Norms.

Without numbers, I'd summarize them all as follows...

October contract activity is about on par with last October, a decent bit slower than pre-Covid levels and much, much lower than during the home buying (and selling) frenzy of the Covid times of 2020 and 2021.