Vicki FullertonHouston Association of REALTORS®

2009 Chair of the Board

Women’s Council of REALTORS®

No Place Like Home…Greater Houston

Steady Growth in Prices

Houston Home Sales Have Declined

Sales Began Dropping in Early 2007

But Months Inventory isShowing Signs of Improvement

And Active Listings are Decreasing

Prices Have Held Up But are Tapering Off

New Homes Sold Through the MLS Have Skyrocketed

New Homes Sold Through MLS

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Permits Show Depressed New Construction Market

For All the Talk About Foreclosures… Less Than Half the 1980s

More mortgage workouts

Where is Houston going?• We have seen steady double-digit increases in the number of leases

completed through the MLS, which are typically single-family homes. • Those renters are likely people who wanted to purchase but have

been caught by more stringent lending standards.• They are expected to enter the market in a year or more, as they have

saved more for a down payment and have corrected credit problems.• Also, despite declining energy prices which took away some of the

cushion we enjoyed, Houston is still cited in numerous reports as being one of the best real estate markets in the country and is expected to rebound earlier than most others. Houston added more than 42,000 jobs last year, through November, and it is still considered a stronger economy.

• Houston was recently named an Emerging World Capital in an article published on Forbes.com and was ranked as the second best U.S. City to Earn a Living.

What has HAR been doing lately?

Houston Named Ambassador City

Welcome to the Largest Local Association

Rank Association/Board Location REALTORS®1 HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® INC Houston, TX 23,524

2 LONG ISLAND BOARD OF REALTORS® INC West Babylon, NY 23,121

3 GREATER LAS VEGAS ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® INC Las Vegas, NV 13,493

4 CHICAGO ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® INC Chicago, IL 12,871

5 METROTEX ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® INC Dallas, TX 12,311

6 PACIFIC WEST ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Anaheim, CA 11,680

7 REALTOR® ASSOCIATION OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, INC. Coral Gables, FL 11,543

8 MAINSTREET ORGANIZATION OF REALTORS® Downers Grove, IL 11,371

9 REALTOR® ASSOCIATION OF GREATER MIAMI & THE BEACHES Miami, FL 11,004

10 NORTHERN VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Fairfax, VA 10,768

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Member and Listing Videos

Troubling Times• When there are times of trouble, many people take advantage of those who

have less experience or knowledge about the real estate market.• Recently, many scams have been targeting people who are among our most

vulnerable citizens.• Some have called and claimed to reduce their mortgage interest rate to

absurdly low levels if they will send some amount of money. The person will send it thinking they are saving themselves from foreclosure, but it is a scam. Now the people are not only still in danger of foreclosure—but also lost a good amount of their savings

• There have also been many reports of scams utilizing Craigslist.com and other such sites.

• Most recently, we have heard several reports of people supposedly from overseas looking at expensive properties and asking for money to be placed in an account and then wired to another bank on behalf of the client. Members have lost thousands of dollars! Be safe!

HVCC

All nine Houston-area U.S. Representatives signed on to HR 3044, which would impose an

18-month moratorium on the HVCC.

What Can You Do?• Even though all of the Houston-area U.S. Representatives have already

signed on as co-sponsors of the HVCC moratorium legislation, they still need to hear from you. Make sure you thank them for their support.

• Also, we have specifically been asked to provide HVCC horror stories with Rep. Al Green, who sits on the Finance Committee over the HVCC. We are establishing a forum for stories to be shared.

• NAR has issued a Call to Action that asks every REALTOR® in the country to contact your U.S. Representative to ask them to support extending the November 30, 2009 deadline for the $8,000 tax credit and expanding it to help more people. You may go to http://takeaction.realtoractioncenter.com/campaign/hbtc to send a letter to your Congressperson and Senators Hutchison and Cornyn.

• Give to TREPAC!

Thank you!vicki@har.com

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