National Sales Statistics Looking Up

1
National Sales Statistics Looking Up

• Good news September new home sales increased
  2.7 percent compared to the same month last year,
  according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
• Bad news On the pricing side, the median sales
  price for a new home declined 9.1 percent to
  218,400. That is a return to September 2004
  pricing levels.
• In a move that is expected to help stabilize
  the real estate market more quickly, new home
  starts are at the lowest level in 26 years.
  While that may sound like a negative, it is
  actually going to help reduce excess inventory
  and restore the real estate market more quickly
  for both new and existing homes.
• Late last week, NAR reported existing home
  sales figures that were also unexpectedly strong.
  That figure rose 5.5 percent, which was the
  highest annualized level of sales in a year.
• Rounding out the national real estate
  newsaccording to Freddie Mac, the national
  average commitment rate for a 30-year,
  conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.04
  percent in September from 6.48 percent in August
  the rate was 6.38 percent in September 2007. A
  great rate may still be had by those looking to
  buy.

2
Get Involved in HAR

• You can make a difference by volunteering for
  one of the many 2009 HAR advisory groups.
• Among the advisory groups on which you may
  apply to serve are Bay Area, Communications,
  Forms and Contracts, Fort Bend, Governmental
  Affairs, Information, International Council,
  Management Central, MLS, Montgomery County,
  NextGen Realtor Group (NRG), Political Affairs,
  Professional Standards, REALTOR Expo, Technology,
  Training and Member Profitability and TREPAC.
• Just visit www.har.com/getinvolved to submit
  your application.
• HAR only functions effectively by having input
  from members like you!

3
Hot Growth MarketHouston!

• The Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoop
  ers released its Emerging Trends in Real Estate
  2009 report last week.
• Houston ranked sixth in the nation for real
  estate investment purposes. This was the first
  time in more than 10 years that Houston made the
  list.
• The report called Houston a hot growth market
  and said, the population keeps expanding due to
  the high octane job engine and reasonable cost of
  living (land is cheap and so is housing).
• Market strengths for Houston that were cited in
  the report were the Texas Medical Center, Johnson
  Space Center, the Port of Houston and trade with
  Mexico.
• Seattle came in first, followed by San
  Francisco Washington, D.C. New York City and
  Los Angeles.

4
HAR Tool of the Week 713-REALTOR

• HAR will be introducing 713-REALTOR Property
  Hotline, a new and exciting service, to its
  members in about a month (late Nov/early Dec).
• Consumers who dial 713-REALTOR and then enter the
  property MLS will be provided an "on demand"
  audio walk-through of your listing 24/7
• In addition, consumers will be given the option
  to be connected to the listing agent during the
  call.
• When a consumer calls the hotline, we save the
  phone number of the person calling for you.
• You will be able to access the call logs for your
  listings by going to the Members Only Portal.
• From the HAR Tools Central click on Lead
  Management and then click on View Hotline
  Leads
• The report will display a list of your current
  listings, and any call logs for those listings
• The sign rider will be available for purchase at
  all four HAR SuperCenter locations as well as
  online at http//realtorstore.har.com once it
  becomes available.