Pending home sales hit a record low for February, with the Pending Home Sales Index scraping in at just 72.1—28% below normal levels and even 13% weaker than the depths of the 2009 housing crash. A tiny 1.8% monthly bump from January changes nothing: buyer demand has been collapsing for over two years, crushed by sky-high prices near all-time peaks, mortgage rates back above 6.3%, and stretched family budgets.

Folks, this is exactly what Our Neighborhood Voices has warned about. Simply building more housing will not decrease housing costs. When demand is frozen by unaffordability, extra supply just sits there while prices stay elevated and communities get disrupted.

Statewide mandates forcing top-down development ignore these market realities and local needs. That’s why we’re fighting for a statewide initiative to keep zoning and planning decisions at the local level—where neighbors, not distant bureaucrats, protect what makes our areas livable.