First Real Estate Snapshot of Houston (FRESH) Here’s HAR’s snap- shot of the Houston housing market as of April 30, 2014. The complete April MLS report comes out on Wednesday, May 14.

Houston Ranked a Top City for Jobs Houston retains its Top-5 spot on Forbes’ latest listing of the best cities in the U.S. for jobs. The Houston area recorded 2.83 million jobs and growth of 3 percent in 2013. Its growth rate from 2008 to 2013 was 8.4 percent. It also held the No. 5 position on the 2013 list, down from No. 2 on the 2012 list. To compile its “Best Big Cities for Jobs 2014” list, Forbes ranked all 398 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) using Bureau of Labor Statistics data from November 2002 through January 2014. The big cities list is composed of the 66 MSAs that each have more than 450,000 jobs. The ranking is based on five factors: recent (current and prior years') employment growth, mid-term growth (average annual 2008-2013 growth rate), long-term trend and momentum, current year growth and the average of each year's growth rate for the past 10 years. Austin jumped from No. 10 last year back up to No. 3 this year. It had been at No. 1 in 2012. See the complete report here: http://onforb.es/1nVsZzL.

Weekly HAR Market Stat There have already been a few items to watch in the burgeoning spring market, particularly around price, sales and inventory. Median sales prices are on the rise while sales have been a wee bit stubborn emerging from winter hibernation. Meanwhile, more choices are still needed for eager buyers. There's still plenty of time for the market to catch fire, and there's no reason to believe that it won't. In the Houston region, for the week ending April 27: • New Listings increased 4.2% to 2,451 • Pending Sales increased 16.7% to 2,187 • Closed Sales decreased 1.3% to 1,620

Military Relocation Professional (MRP) A Salute to Education Military Relocation Professional (MRP) The goal of the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) certification course is to educate real estate professionals about working with current and former military service members. This includes finding housing solutions that best suit their needs and taking full advantage of military benefits and support. Students will learn how to provide real estate services at any stage in the service member’s military career that meet the needs of this niche market and win future referrals. Note: You will need to complete a pre-course reading assignment, two webinars and an application with a one-time fee in addition to the eight-hour course if you intend to apply for MRP certification. For more information, please see www.militaryrelocationpro.org. Date: Thursday, May 8 Time: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Location: HAR Central and via video conference at Montgomery County branch Investment: $35 Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6 Register at www.har.com/edu