TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While investors may be slowing down their purchases in the American housing market, Redfin real estate is reporting more individual buyers are coming back in, even with higher mortgage rates.

The company also said fewer purchases are in cash, instead showing an increase in mortgage applications.

According to the company’s analysis, pending home sales had their smallest drop since September, 20% lower than February 2022. Additionally, Redfin reported mortgage applications were up 3% from the previous week, as of Feb. 5. A new report on mortgage rates is expected to come Thursday.

While higher than previous years, mortgage rates are still lower than their peak in November.

“This year is more uncertain than most because the effects of last year’s rapid rate hikes are still flowing through the economy, and we’re not sure how much more the Fed will raise rates this year,” Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao said, calling 2023 atypical. “We’ll be closely monitoring the Fed’s words and actions, along with inflation rates and indicators about the health of the labor market for signals that could affect homebuyer demand.”

Zhao’s commentary came ahead of the Super Bowl, along with data showing where demand was for the week of Feb. 9. The company said not only were applications for mortgages higher, there was also an increase of requests for home tours, though the data for that stat was restricted to Redfin’s customers.

Backtracking slightly, Redfin also reported the number of cash buyers for homes had decreased in December. The newest report on the data showed that homes bought in December were only paid for in cash roughly one-third of the, 31% of all purchases.

The number of cash purchases for a home declined roughly 0.7% since their November peak, which was an eight year high, according to Redfin.

In Florida, where home shopping is limited by inventory and expensive due to migration, and affordability is a frequent concern, a decline in cash purchases signals changes in some areas, such as how many homeowners have property insurance, and have to handle its related expenses.

No state in the U.S. requires homeowners insurance, or property insurance. Instead, it is typical for mortgages to either require insurance be purchased, or is included by default in mortgage policies.