“If real estate is your profession, politics is your business.” It’s not just a slogan. It’s true. HAR TREPAC raises more money than any other REALTOR® association in the state—and possibly the nation. The bills that have been passed—or killed—because of TREPAC save each and every one of you literally thousands of dollars every year. You may read more about TREPAC and why it is so important to all of us here.

One of the hottest topics right now is the “Coming Soon” listing. With the strength in the real estate market right now, properties are selling faster than ever before. That means that many properties are selling before they’re even entered into the MLS. Sometimes sellers want to just test the market with a “Coming Soon” type of arrangement as well. NAR has issued a warning about “Coming Soon” listings. You may read all about them here.

May home sales showed the first decline in three years, although pricing continues to set new records, as low inventory drives demand higher. The months’ inventory figure ticked up from 2.6 months, where we had spent most of this year, to 2.8 months. Not a sign that we are going to be out of the woods very soon as far as available homes for sale, it is a step in the right direction back toward a balanced market. You may read all about the most recent market statistics here.

As part of our switch to Realist for tax information, Tempo will now auto-populate listings from all counties in Texas. It should be a seamless transition, but you may read more about it here. The Tax ID links on MLS agent reports will now open Realist Detail Reports instead of the old report. You will also access the Realist Tax system when you click on the Tax icon in the top navigation menu. We hope you enjoy using these new tools for your benefit.

There are so many great educational opportunities, and one of the greatest ones coming up is the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), which will be held from July 28 through August 1. There’s also International Day 101 coming up on September 4. These are tremendous offerings from HAR to learn about the burgeoning international real estate market—both international buyers looking to purchase in Houston, as well as local people looking to buy in other countries. Learn more here.

Until next month,