The August 2012 MLS statistics will be released on Tuesday morning, and here are some quick takeaways:•August sales of single-family homes jumped 20.0 percent compared to August 2011. Contracts closed on 6,600 homes in August, sending inventory falling to 4.9 months—a level last seen more than 10 years ago.•The single-family home average price increased 4.0 percent year-over-year to $224,464, the highest level for an August in Houston. The median price rose 3.8 percent to $165,000, also a record high for an August in Houston.•Rentals of single-family homes rose 10.5 percent compared to August 2011, while year-over-year townhouse/condominium rentals edged up 2.7 percent. •For more detailed information, please visit the HAR Online Newsroom for this and all other news releases.

August MLS Sales Statistics

Fed Announces Plans to Buy Mortgage Bonds• QE3 is not the name of a new luxury ocean liner. It means

Quantitative Easing (Round) 3. It includes the plan for the Federal Reserve to purchase $40 billion in mortgage bonds per month…indefinitely!

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the bond-buying program "should increase the downward pressure on long-term interest rates more generally, but also on mortgage rates specifically, which should provide further support to the housing sector by encouraging home purchases and refinancing.”

• The Financial Times reported that the lower rates that are intended from this action may not be seen by consumers because mortgage companies are already backlogged and have no incentive to pass along the lower rates to consumers.

• Others have complained about the need to print new money to fund this effort and what economic consequences may result.

Weekly HAR Market StatYou fill the pot with the water and you turn the stovetop on and you wait. You watch it and you want something to happen and it seems to take an exceptionally long time. This is our current housing market. It's been an undeniably good spring and summer, and now we wait to see if the fall showcase is just as good if we mix in the right amount of inventory, sales and days on market.

In the Houston region, for the week ending September 9:• New Listings decreased 0.9% to 1,703

• Pending Sales increased 43.7% to 1,351• Closed Sales increased 8.7% to 788

Register @ www.har.com/edu Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6

Leasing 101 – Understanding the Basics of Leasing

Date: Thursday, 9/20/12Time: 9:00am-4:00pmLocation: HAR CentralInvestment: $39

While real estate licensees are authorized to represent clients in lease transactions, few licensees perform lease transactions with any regularity. As a result, when a client comes to licensees for representation on a lease, many licensees are not equipped to offer adequate service to their clients. This course is designed for the real estate licensee who needs the basic fundamentals of leasing representation. Students will learn how to adequately represent landlords and tenants and will be taught how to use forms associated with applying for lease agreements. *Please be on time as class will start promptly at 9am.