HAR Chair Vicki Fullerton - Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Presentation

Vicki FullertonHouston Association of REALTORS®

2009 Chair of the Board

No Place Like Home…Greater Houston

Steady Growth in Prices

Houston Home Sales Have Declined

Sales Began Dropping in Early 2007

But Months Inventory isShowing Signs of Improvement

And Active Listings are Decreasing

Prices Have Held Up But are Tapering Off

Content

New Homes Sold Through the MLS Have Skyrocketed

New Homes Sold Through MLS

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Permits Show Depressed New Construction Market

For All the Talk About Foreclosures… Less Than Half the 1980s

More mortgage workouts

Where is Houston going?• We have seen steady double-digit increases in the number of leases

completed through the MLS, which are typically single-family homes. • Those renters are likely people who wanted to purchase but have been

caught by more stringent lending standards.• They are expected to enter the market in a year or more, as they have

saved more for a down payment and have corrected credit problems.• Also, despite declining energy prices which took away some of the

cushion we enjoyed, Houston is still cited in numerous reports as being one of the best real estate markets in the country and is expected to rebound earlier than most others. Houston added more than 42,000 jobs last year, through November, and it is still considered a stronger economy.

• The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate recently ranked Houston as the 8th best investment market in the world!

• Real estate will follow through on the economic conditions…as they improve, real estate will also.

Thank you!vicki@har.com

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