When the numbers came in for the week ending 8/23, there was a feeling of cautious optimism.  Pending sales were up 26.8% from the same time period one year ago.  This upward trend is one that we've seen since the week ending 7/26 - it's not an aberration. 

The supply of homes available for sale has decreased from 7.7% from the same period one year ago.  This too is a trend that we've seen for the last 5 weeks.  There are now 9.29 homes on the market for every buyer for September, which is a slight increase from August which had 8.68 homes/buyer.

There are a couple of factors that are causing these trends:  the rush by buyers to purchase a home after looking all summer, beginning to purchase homes before the end of summer; continuing favorable interest rates; buyers hoping to take advantage of the [FHA Assistance Program} prior to them being eliminated on Oct. 1; and finally, the realization that home prices are very attractive.