January MLS Sales Statistics

1. January MLS Sales Statistics The January 2013 MLS statistics will be released on Tuesday morning, and here are some quick takeaways: • Single-family home sales in January maintained the aggressive pace of 2012, increasing 28.3 percent year-over-year and accounting for the 20th consecutive positive month. • Contracts closed on 3,899 homes, shrinking inventory to 3.6 months, a level not seen in Houston since December 1999. • Home prices achieved record highs for a January in Houston, with a median price of $150,000 and an average price of $200,296. • Total dollar volume was $908 million, a 33.6 percent increase over January 2012, when total dollar volume was $680 million. • For more detailed information, please visit the HAR Online Newsroom for this and all other news releases.

2. Houston Sees Largest Gain in Consumer Financial Health • The Houston area posted the largest gain of any major U.S. city in a financial health index in 2012. • Houston was also the fourth-healthiest region in the U.S. in the fourth quarter with a score of 76, up 6.5 points from the same period in 2011, according to the CredAbility Consumer Distress Index. • The quarterly reported index — which measures data on employment, housing, credit and other factors driving the financial health of households — is published by Atlanta-based nonprofit credit counsel agency CredAbility. For the index, a score lower than 70 indicates a city is in financial distress. • Houston followed Minneapolis — the financially healthiest city in the U.S. in the fourth quarter with a score of 80 — the Washington, D.C., area and the Boston area, according to the index. • The index reports that while Houston gained the most of all U.S. cities, other strong performers in 2012 were San Antonio; San Diego, Calif.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and St. Louis.

3. Weekly HAR Market Stat We like when our politicians, stock brokers and mechanics demonstrate transparency. But what about our housing markets? It's empowering to know that home sales were up in our state, or that the average home sold for a certain amount in our city or that a shrinking share of sales in your neighborhood was foreclosures. It allows, no, it encourages both existing and would-be home buyers to make smarter decisions, which ultimately conserves the increasingly scarce taxpayer dollar. In turn, that lets us invest in things we value as a society like infrastructure, technology, education, research and job training. In the Houston region, for the week ending February 10: • New Listings decreased 6.0% to 2,032 • Pending Sales increased 55.9% to 1,824 • Closed Sales increased 17.0% to 812

4. Gain a Valuable Education • Broker Price Opinions (BPOs): • The Agent’s Role in the Valuation Process • The property valuation process depends more than ever on professional expertise and competence, the best use of technology and a commitment to approach the valuation assignment from all pertinent perspectives. “BPOs: The Agent’s Role in the Valuation Process” is specifically designed to help residential real estate agents and brokers enhance their skills in creating BPOs, reducing risk, and applying alternative valuation methods. Once your roster has been submitted, you will receive an email inviting you to apply online. There is a one-time application fee of $199 and an online webinar that must be completed. Also, to be enrolled in the preferred provider panel, please note that you must have been licensed for at least two-and-a-half years, and you or your broker have an E&O policy with $250,000 minimum coverage per incident and $500,000 aggregate maximum. If you lose the email, you may still apply online at https://bpor.org/application. Enter your NRDS (9-digit number) and email address (the same email address you provided to your instructor and the one you received the initial email from). • Date: Wed., Feb. 27 • Time: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. • Location: HAR Central • Investment: $99 for members; $109 for non-members Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6 Register at www.har.com/edu