Realtors® confidence and buyer open house traffic indicates market conditions were "strong" this past week. The number of Closed escrows is an encouraging indicator of market activity but the number of homes that went under contract (Pending) was on the weak side. New listings, however, failed to keep pace with the 75 homes essentially now off the market. This is causing sellers to sustain an upward bias on prices which the market seems averse to absorbing.

In conclusion the low cost of obtaining a mortgage with 30-year fixed rates is below four percent and continues to support housing demand for the foreseeable future. First-time homebuyers accounted for 30 percent of sales of homes below $800,000. Historically low supply, declining affordability, appraisal issues, and lender processing delays are key issues that will be affecting sales. Still, most of the Realtors® we spoke to are confident about the outlook for the remainder of the year for all price ranges.