1. Imagine Yourself as an HAR Board Member
As leaders of one of the most prestigious REALTOR® associations in the country,
members of the HAR Board of Directors are recognized within the Houston
community and nationally for effecting positive change in the lives of HAR’s more
than 22,000 members through the decisions they make and standards that they
set. Among the exciting opportunities that come with this prestigious role are:
• Setting high standards for one of the largest MLS operations in the country;
• Creating political policy for HAR’s governmental affairs program;
• Continually enhancing HAR.com, the nationally recognized member and
consumer real estate website;
• Advancing industry competency, fairness and high integrity through enforcement
of NAR Code of Ethics and HAR rules and regulations;
• Designing and advocating the consumer awareness campaign through
advertising and public relations efforts.
• Find out more and apply for Board membership today here.

2. Texas Leads the Nation in Job Growth
• A new report shows that Texas led the nation in job growth
over the past 10 years.
• Between March 2002 and March 2012, Texas added more
than 1.3 million new non-farm jobs, according to The
Business Journals’ analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics. That’s nearly 1 million more than No. 2 New
York’s addition of 335,900 jobs.
• When removing government jobs and considering only
private-sector jobs, Texas led by a similar margin. The state
added 1.2 million new private-sector jobs over the same 10-
year period, ahead of No. 2 New York’s 340,800 new private-
sector jobs.
• The complete story is available at http://bit.ly/KzUE44.

3. Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Low
•Average rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages have
fallen to fresh record lows, offering more incentives for
consumers to buy or refinance homes.
•Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac announced Thursday that the
rate on the 30-year loan fell to 3.84 percent, the lowest since
long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
•That's below the previous record rate of 3.87 percent reached
in February and compares to a rate of 4.71 percent a year
earlier.
•The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell to a record low,
hitting 3.07 percent in the most recent week, compared with
3.12 percent the previous week.

4. Weekly HAR Market Stat
Buyers don't live in a spreadsheet. When they find a home to love and cherish, they
don't intellectualize it too much. There are generally fewer homes on the market,
they're selling more quickly and prices in most areas are no longer in a downtrend.
Dwindling inventories means there's less competition and more pricing power for
sellers, who are finally starting to be rewarded by strong buyer activity. Interest rates at
50-year lows don’t hurt either.
In the Houston region, for the week ending April 29:
• New Listings decreased 9.1% to 2,309
• Pending Sales increased 36.4% to 1,945
• Closed Sales decreased 20.9% to 1,530

5. Open Your Mind to Learning
Land 101: Fundamentals of
Land Brokerage
Dates: Tuesday – Wednesday, May 22 – 23
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Location: HAR Central
Investment: $147.50 (includes MCE credit)
To register, please contact TAR at 800.873.9155 or email
education@texasrealtors.com.
Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6