August slowed across several activity measures
New pendings fell month over month in both Washington, DC and Montgomery County. The combined GCAAR executive report recorded 1,070 new pendings, a 20.7% monthly decrease, while active supply was 4,537 and months of supply was 3.4.
The reports do not prove a cause
The figures are consistent with a late-summer slowdown, but the reports do not isolate seasonality, rates, consumer confidence, listing mix, or another cause. A responsible use is to compare current property-level competition and set decision checkpoints, not to announce a universal market turn.
YTD prevents a one-month story
Montgomery County YTD closed sales were up 3.1% even though August sales were down 8.1% year over year. DC YTD closed sales were down 3.5% even though August alone was down 19.5%. The cumulative view materially changes the interpretation.