The May 2011 MLS statistics will be released on Tuesday morning, and here are some quick takeaways:

• The 2010 home buyer tax credit continues to obscure an accurate gauge of how the Houston real estate market is performing. The 2010 federal incentive triggered a short-term surge in local home sales last spring that has skewed the year-over-year analysis most of this year. • The average price of a single-family home jumped 6.5 percent from May 2010 to $220,210. The May single-family home median price climbed 3.2 percent year-over-year to $157,900. Both the average and median price reached the highest levels for a May in Houston as well as for 2011.• May single-family home sales fell 11.9 percent versus one year earlier to 5,043.• The number of listings that went under contract this May and expected to close in the next 30 to 60 days was up more than 35 percent when compared to May 2010—yet another comparison that is skewed by the tax credit that required buyers to enter purchase contracts by the April 30, 2010 deadline. • For more detailed information, please visit www.har.com/newsroom/ for this release and all other news releases.

May MLS Sales Statistics

• All HAR MLS participants should have either been debited/charged or received their billing statements. Any subscribers who pay by check have until Thursday, June 23 to submit payment.

• The HAR MLS Advisory Group approved two changes to ancillary MLS fees that go into effect with this quarterly billing cycle. The MLS subscriber fees themselves have not changed.

• The first fee change is that any MLS subscriber who lapses past the grace period will be required to pay a $100 reinstatement fee, up from $25.

• Additionally, any subscriber who chooses to pay on a quarterly basis and does not have an auto-payment method set up will pay $25 per quarter for processing, up from $10 per quarter.

• All subscribers may avoid the fees by making sure to keep their subscriptions current and setting up their account on auto-payment. They would then actually save the $10 per quarter that they had been paying as well. This may also be accomplished by paying on an annual basis instead of being billed quarterly.

• Any changes to your payment information should be reported immediately by calling 713-629-1900 ext. 4.

Quarterly MLS Participation Fees Due

Weekly HAR Market StatBuyers outpaced their 2010 activity levels for the current reporting week, while the incoming supply of new listings remained soft. There are other dynamics occurring that can shine light on current market conditions. It's important to watch overarching trends over any one week's worth of numbers.

In the Houston region, for the week ending June 12: • New listings decreased 6.9% to 2,092

• Pending sales increased 56.8% to 1,336 • Closed sales decreased 13.1% to 919

Register Online at www.har.com/edu Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6

Practically Perfect (Contracts) in Every Way

Practical Aspects of Contracts

Date: Thursday, June 23Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. or 1 – 4 p.m.Location: HAR CentralInvestment: $25

To provide students with the latest TREC promulgated contracts. Students will review recent changes to the contracts and each section of the contracts will be discussed in light of the issues that are taking place in today's real estate industry.