We've got a lot of things to talk about and, to be honest with you, I don't know exactly what's going on in the marketplace. So we'll just start with that little disclaimer.

The first bit of exciting news I want to share with you is that last month we saw 305 site-built single family homes homes go under contract in our MLS. That is the highest number of pending sales that we have seen since October of 2021!

The other bit of really good news is that, on August 1st, we rounded off at a 6.72% mortgage interest rate, but here we are at the end of the first week of August and there was just an announcement made of average rates of 6.55%, which is a new 10 month low.

When I sit back and I look at this and try and figure out what we're seeing what we're seeing, the inventory has come down. We were on an upward trajectory in terms of inventory and the trajectory nationally is still growing. But here locally in our Prescott area, for the first time since the first of the year, inventory actually slipped month-over-month.

In July we were at 1287 homes for sale and, as of August 1st, at 1273. I look at that number almost daily and I can tell you that, in the second week in July, we were approaching about 1330/1340 homes. And then I think that we just got an influx of buyers, probably for a number of reasons. Number one reason being that interest rates continue to soften. That's going to get buyers off the sidelines and into the game.

I think that the stock market recovery also contributed to this, plus overall consumer confidence has sort of started to trickle back and return to the marketplace, at least here locally.

Values are did slip on an MLS-wide average by about a 1.25%.

When you look at the number of buyers that entered the marketplace last month and that inventory coming down, we are now down below a five-month supply of homes again. So I'm not willing to look at any of this yet as a turnaround or a trend or anything like that.

But here's what I would tell you...

If you're a buyer and you've been waiting, I don't know what else you're waiting for. If you're an FHA or VA buyer, there are rates out there available to you right now, sub 6%, which is a fantastic rate. If you're a conventional borrower, 6.55%, you can ask for a seller concession. It's very easy to get that rate real close to 6% for not that much cost, either out of your pocket or ask some of the sellers that have been on the market for a long time. Some of them are willing to contribute.

Now, from a seller's perspective, the active inventory has been on the market now for 100 days. So that has come down a little bit, by 12.36%. That is the average that the active home on the market in our Prescott MLS is priced at over the market average.

It wasn't that long ago that we were looking at those numbers and they were 15%-16% over the fair market value. And now they continue to come down. In terms of price reductions, I'm sure you are seeing those out there.

Days on market stayed pretty stable. MLS-wide edged up one day to 64, in Prescott 57. Last month homes were on the market 55 to 60 days on average before they attracted an offer. About half the inventory, 608 homes, is on the market in Prescott, 290 in Prescott Valley and 102 in Chino Valley. We finished with 259 total sales closed for the month of July.

Looking at the national, numbers, there's a couple things that I ran across.

In July, a little over 20% of home listings nationally experienced price reductions. The good news is that, for sellers, this is down slightly from June, marking the first time in six months that price cuts have declined nationally. It did indicate that there was a more significant number of reductions. I think the number was over 30%. For example, Phoenix was in the top five in terms of price cuts for a major metro.

On a national level for days on market, you're looking at a continued rise. It was the 16th straight month of homes taking longer to sell on a year-over-year basis. For the first time, the market has now surpassed pre-pandemic norms

Inventory growth continues to rise nationally. This was the 21st consecutive month of inventory growth on a national level.

So what does all this mean?

I was excited to see that the inventory levels here locally came down. We're now below a five month supply, which is still right in that balanced market.

The number of new homes that hit the market in July actually softened, though, so new sellers coming into the market softened a bit.

We saw a lot of buyers entering the marketplace, which to me is a strong signal that the softening of rates, and the fact that buyers have more options today than they've had in nearly a decade, is giving buyers the confidence to go out and enter the marketplace.

If you're one of those sellers that's sitting on the market and you're not attracting an offer, I would just encourage you to take a really strong look at what you're competing against.

The inventory changes, prices are changing, the market is very fluid right now. It's going to be really interesting to see if the inventory levels hold where they are, just steady, or if we're going to see a further decline next month or things change and we see more sellers entering the marketplace because there's a perception of more buyers coming in.

So stay tuned. I will keep you informed, as always. And if you have any questions at all, never hesitate to reach out. Thanks a lot.

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