Let’s revisit yesterday’s graph and add the sales to compare the relative health of the market.

If higher mortgage rates were stopping home buyers, then sales would plummet, especially in relation to the number of listings. But if the number of listings plummets too, and we’re down to just the most serious buyers and sellers, we can still have an orderly market:

NSDCC Listings and Sales Between Jan 1 and Feb 15

The local market isn’t in shambles or falling apart.

The number of buyers AND sellers are much lower than they were previously, but they are acting in concert and fairly similar to the frenzy years. By the time the late-reporters log in, this year’s L/S will get down to 1.8 or 1.7 which is remarkably similar to the hottest frenzy years of all-time!