April MLS Sales Statistics

1
April MLS Sales Statistics

• The April 2009 MLS statistics will be released on
  Tuesday morning, and here are some quick
  takeaways
• Overall April property sales fell 24.3 percent
  compared to April 2008, and sales of
  single-family homes declined by 22.5 percent.
• When removing foreclosures from the total
  sales, the average price of a single-family home
  in Houston declined 5.6 percent last month
• When removing foreclosures from the total sales,
  the median sales price for a single-family home
  actually rose slightly on a year-over-year basis.
• Lease activity continues to be a bright spot,
  with single-family home leases rising 8.0 percent
  in April, versus the same month last year.
• For more detailed information, please visit
  www.har.com/mls/ and click on MLS Press
  Releases on the left.

2
Survey Shows Consumers More Realistic on Pricing
REALTORS More Optimistic

• HomeGain conducted a national survey about home
  prices and just announced the results.
• The survey shows that 36 of homeowners think
  their homes should be listed 10 to 20 higher
  than what their REALTORS recommend, down from
  45 in the first quarter.
• The REALTORS surveyed expressed more optimism
  in the second quarter survey on the direction of
  home prices than in the first quarter, with 22
  of them believing that home values will increase
  in the next six months versus 11 who believed
  the same in the first quarter. Twenty-nine
  percent of survey respondents believe that home
  prices will fall in the next six months versus
  53 who believed the same in the first quarter
  survey.
• Hopefully these are positive signs of sentiment
  shifting across the country.

3
NAHB-Wells Fargo Index Shows PromiseSentiment
index rises to 16 in May, an eight-month high

• Encouraged by low interest rates and the
  re-emergence of first-time buyers, U.S. home
  builders' spirits improved again in May, the
  National Association of Home Builders said
  Monday, bringing its sentiment index to the
  highest level since the collapse of Lehman Bros.
  sparked a global financial panic in September.
• The NAHB-Wells Fargo index rose to 16 in May
  from 14 in April on a scale of zero to 100. It's
  the highest since the 17 recorded in September.
  The index got as low as 6 in January. Before the
  current housing meltdown, the index had never
  gotten below 20 in its 24-year history. It peaked
  at 72 nearly four years ago.
• The future sales index rose to 27 in May from
  24 in April. At 27, "this reflects very tempered
  optimism," said a Merrill Lynch analyst.

4
Happy Memorial Day

• Since most offices will be closed on Monday and
  we traditionally do not produce editions of The
  Edge when the week has a Monday holiday, you
  will not receive an edition next week.
• Look for the next edition of The Edge on
  Monday, June 1, 2009.