In This Week’s “The EDGE” The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business In This Week’s “The EDGE” • Houston Home Sales & Pricing Rise Again • Are Consumers Talking About You? • Houston Market Movements • Time To Do Your ‘Woofly’ Duty “The Edge” is a weekly tool for managers to use to inform their agents and stay current and up-to-date with important real estate industry issues. Brought to you by the HAR Communications Department.

Houston Home Sales & Pricing Rise Again The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business Houston Home Sales & Pricing Rise Again HAR released February 2017 MLS statistics last Wednesday. Here are some highlights of the MLS report in case you missed it: The Houston housing market held to positive territory for the second month of 2017 as single-family home sales and pricing were both up in February. Sales volume increased 4.0 percent with 4,933 homes sold. The single-family home median price jumped 7.3 percent to a February high of $220,000, while the average price increased 6.7 percent to $280,175 – also a February high. Months of inventory edged up to a 3.5-months supply compared to 3.4-months in February 2016. Housing inventory nationally stands at a 3.6-months supply, according to NAR. Leases of single-family homes rose 8.5 percent. Townhome/condo leases were unchanged year-over-year. For more detailed information, please visit the HAR Online Newsroom for this and all other HAR news releases.

Are Consumers Talking About You? The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business Are Consumers Talking About You? Real estate consumers today rely heavily on ratings and reviews when preparing to make one of the biggest investments of their lives. More than 60 percent of respondents to a recent HAR.com consumer survey say that ratings and reviews of agents is an important factor in selecting a REALTOR®. For nearly 10 years, HAR has offered members the Client Experience Rating (CER) – a simple and effective five-star system for evaluating the performance of our member REALTORS® at the close of each transaction. To date, HAR has sent more than one million surveys to consumers. Are YOU using this valuable business-generating tool? Learn more about the Client Experience Rating HERE.

Houston Market Movements The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business Houston Market Movements Across the U.S.A., tight inventory, lower affordability and higher mortgage rates continue to dominate residential real estate news, but a declining unemployment rate offers a bright spot. Employment in the construction industry had some of the largest gains. It would be great to see this increase translate into an impact on the construction of new homes for sale. In the Houston region, for the week ending March 5: • New Listings increased 8.7% to 3,194 • Pending Sales increased 20.6% to 2,164 • Closed Sales increased 17.9% to 1,987

Time To Do Your ‘Woofly’ Duty The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business Time To Do Your ‘Woofly’ Duty Don’t miss this year’s Dog House Extravaganza on Thursday, March 30, from 6 to 9 p.m., and help support New Hope Housing. This incredible organization’s core purpose is to provide life-stabilizing, affordable, permanent housing with support services for people who live on very limited incomes. New Hope Housing’s vision is to be an enduring institution serving Houston’s most vulnerable citizens. Register TODAY at www.dhe2017.com/event-details!