1. Americans Remain Upbeat About Housing A new survey finds that Americans are increasingly optimistic about the housing market, despite the threat of a continued rise in mortgage rates. Fifty-three percent of Americans expect home prices to increase by an average of 3.9 percent over the next 12 months, according to Fannie Mae’s July National Housing Survey of 1,000 home owners. Only 6 percent expect prices to fall, a new low in the survey's three-year history. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed say now is a good time to purchase a house, and 40 percent say now is a good time to sell. But consumers are bracing themselves for higher mortgage rates: 62 percent of survey respondents say they expect rates to rise over the next year, while only 5 percent expect them to fall. "Consumers have taken the interest-rate rise in stride,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “Expectations for continued improvement in housing persist, and sentiment toward the current buying and selling environment is back on track from its dip last month. These results are consistent with our own analysis of previous housing cycles, which finds that interest rates and home prices are not strongly correlated."

2. Weekly HAR Market Stat As we move past the peak spring and summer selling months, one might expect tapering activity compared to last month. But we can still expect solid year-over-year improvement. Rates remain affordable despite recent increases. Rising prices should continue to alleviate challenged homeowners, which should lend to increased options for buyers. Items to watch include Federal Reserve policy, a potential debt ceiling standoff and jobs numbers – all of which affect the course of consumer confidence. In the Houston region, for the week ending August 4: New Listings increased 3.9% to 2,362 Pending Sales increased 38.8% to 2,071 Closed Sales increased 19.0% to 2,243

3. Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6 Open Your Mind to Learning Register at www.har.com/edu Protect Yourself & Your Clients: Preventing Identity Theft and Hijacked Listings in the Digital Age This course will cover: information security and the identity theft threat; the identity theft problem and scope of this rapidly growing threat how it happens, the human element, careless mistakes and what can happen; the Information Security Guidelines created by the National Association of REALTORS ®, which all REALTORS ® are expected to know and adhere to; computers and wireless networks; federal and state information security laws and requirements; protecting yourself, your clients and your company. Date: Tuesday, August 20 Time: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Location: HAR Central Investment: $40