August Contract Activity Was Slower Than In Recent Years

We are seeing fewer home buyers signing contracts to buy homes right now... compared to the past few years.  The graph above shows the numbers of homes that went under contract in the first 28 days of August for each of the past six years. 

The 101 contracts signed in the first 28 days of August 2023 is decidedly lower than the contract activity seen in August 2020, 2021 and 2022 -- though most of those years were much more active than normal given COVID-induced buyer enthusiasm and super low mortgage interest rates.

As such, it is not totally surprising to see us return to around 100 contracts signed in August, which is the average of how many we saw in August 2018 and August 2019.

With mortgage interest rates around 7% right now, I expect we will continue to see slower months of contract activity as we continue into and through the fall months of 2023.