Redfin, the technology-powered real estate broker, today issued its Real-Time Demand Pulse, the only report in the industry that analyzes offer and tour data. The report showed:

• Customers signing offers fell just 4 percent in August--an improvement of nearly 10 percentage points compared to the same period a year ago.
• Customers requesting home tours were down 6 percent—the same decrease as last year.

Housing market activity typically slows throughout the summer, yet the number of home offers in August declined much less dramatically than in 2011. Because home offers and tours are early indicators of home sales, the housing market recovery is likely to continue into the fall.

"The fundamental question about the real estate market has been: will it last?" said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "With the summer season now over, would the rise in demand and prices be more than just the kind of temporary rally we saw in 2010 and 2011? Would buyers frustrated by an inventory crunch keep looking for a home? And the answer now clearly is yes, the recovery will continue. The market isn't booming, but it's building steadily in ways that have surprised many economists. In the past few weeks, we got the first signal that the winter will be relatively strong, which in turn bodes very well for 2013."

The company expects that sales volume in most areas will continue to be slightly above last year through at least September. (Note: Redfin's business is growing at a faster pace than the market as a whole.)

Click here to read the complete Redfin Real-Time Demand Pulse.