I want to start by saying what an honor it is to serve as your 2024 chair of the board. It is not lost on me that I follow in the great footsteps of those who served in this position before me. It always seems like we have the right leaders at the right time, and I hope to show that continues during my year. We have some challenges, but, as they say, every challenge presents an opportunity.

Each year, we begin with our Young Professionals Network (YPN) presenting the economic forecast with the Greater Houston Partnership’s Chief Economist Patrick Jankowski. This year, it will be on January 10 at 10 a.m. You may read more about it and how to register for this virtual event here.

We had our first gain in 19 months for sales on a year-over-year basis in November 2023. As you all know, the market was almost overheated during the pandemic, so we now face easier comparisons with the previous year going forward. You may read all about the latest market statistics here.

The rental market continues to show tremendous strength as you can see in our Rental Market Update here. Every statistic saw a gain whether it was the single-family rental market or townhouse/condos. Again, if you haven’t thought about entering the leasing market to supplement your business, maybe this is the time to think about it.

Have you ever thought about learning more about commercial real estate? HAR has two commercial-focused legal updates in the next few months scheduled. It is a great way to gain more insight and earn some CE in the process. I’m not just promoting them because I am a commercial broker either. It’s a great way to educate yourself and possibly expand your business. You may learn more here.

I want to finish by saying how incredible the REALTOR® Celebration was last month. Your board of directors and executive officers were installed at the event, and I was grateful to be sworn in by Mike Miedler, CEO of Century 21. For anyone who attended, you heard the amazing stories from our REALTOR® of the Year, Karishma Asrani, and our John E. Wolf Community Service Award recipient, Bindy Jacob. You may see photos from the event and read more about these two incredible REALTORS® on pages 26-35.

Until next month,

Thomas Mouton
HAR Chair