スーザンは2023年ヒューストン不動産協会 (HAR) の理事会に選出されました。先週、今年初めての公式理事会とリーダーシップ オリエンテーションへHAR の CEO であるボブ・ヘイル、HARの新しい会長であるキャシー・トレビノ、そしてHARとHRISのマネージャーとディレクターと共に出席しました。それぞれの出席者から、現在の協会の現状について、業界の動向、業界における問題、不動産業界に関連した訴訟の現状、メディアからのインタビュー要求への対応方法など様々な要点に触れました。 合計5時間のセッションの後は参加者みんなでパーティーに行き、この地位で理事会に参加できてとても嬉しかったです。理事会終了後には、ヒューストン・クロニクルから、中国からのテキサスへの投資を禁止する案についてのインタビューを求める連絡をいただきました。個人的な意見もありますが、HAR のコミュニケーション部門に委ねることにしました。
As a newly elected member of the Board of Directors for the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), Susan attended her first official HAR board meeting and Leadership Orientation last week. In attendance was the CEO of HAR, Bob Hale, the new chairman of HAR, Cathy Trevino, as well as the managers and directors of HAR and HRIS. Various speakers touched on the topics of the current state of the association, industry trends, industry threats and disrupters, ongoing lawsuits related to the real estate industry, and how to handle interview requests from the media. It was a 5 hour session with a lovely reception to follow and I was happy to be able to participate at this level. Soon after, the Houston Chronicle emailed to ask about my thoughts on the proposed ban on Chinese investments to Texas. Although I had my thoughts, I deferred them to HAR’s communications department.
While we near the end of the year, new responsibilities are around the corner and old responsibilities end. For Susan, serving as the President of the Women’s Council of Realtors Houston finished last week! 2022 was an incredibly busy year leading this organization. Monthly meetings, monthly events, planning, budgeting, marketing, traveling. It was very non-stop the entire year. Some of the notable events we hosted for our members included a historical tour of downtown on an open deck bus, an apartment locating class to teach the members how to incorporate this area of real estate into their business, a financial planning class, a Kentucky Derby networking event, an Oktober Fest Networking event, and even a Charcuterie making class. We tried to think of interesting and meaningful events for our members to give them an opportunity to meet each other and to learn something valuable for their business and lives. On December 5, Susan’s President Elect, Lisa Eureste, took over the position of President for 2023. Susan conducted the installation and swore in the new board. We wish Lisa all the best for next year and hope for continued momentum for the Women’s Council of Realtors Houston!
Decemeber 15 was the Houston Association of Realtors annual Realtor Celebration Event. It took place at the Houston Country Club and celebrated the leadership of our 2022 Chairman, Jennifer Wauhob, who spent one year representing Houston Realtors on the news and at conferences all around the United States. We also celebrated the new 2023 Chairman, Cathy Trevino, who was installed with her Board of Directors, including Susan, who was newly elected in August of this year. Board of Directors are elected by the 50,000 members of HAR. The board will meet regularly to decide on policies and to discuss issues that affect the members. Each term is two years and Susan is super excited to be a part of this very amazing group of leaders!
Many people have noticed that the soaring interest rate has calmed down recently and often ask us how the real estate market is going. Do we think it will crash? Will there be many foreclosures? As of Dec 1, the interest rates were around 6.5%. Data shows that mortgage rates may have peaked. After surpassing the 7% threshold in the second week of November, rates are finally moving down as inflation is cooling. Forecasters say if inflation continues to slow, rates may stabilize near 6%. While pending homes sales (the number of homes under contract) have now fallen for 5 straight months, forecasters believe that buyers will be back around the beginning of the year as the FHFA just raised the conforming loan limits for 2023 from $720k to $800k, a 12% increase. The main reasons the market won’t crash nor will there be many foreclosures like in 2008 are: there were 8 million job cuts last time where this time there is not, W2 payroll jobs were at 130 million whereas now there are 158 million, subprime loans were prevalent back in 2008 whereas now there are virtually none, inventory on the market was around 3.9 million whereas now there is only 1.1 million. In short, forecasters do not think the market will crash in 2023.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just released some very interesting data from research taken between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. The report came out in early November and revealed many interesting trends:
1. First-time buyers drop to an all-time low of 26% from 34% just a year ago.
2. The age of first-time buyers (36 years old) and repeat buyers (59 years old) hit all-time highs.
3. How far a buyer moved jumped to an all-time high of 50 miles from a range that had been steady between 10 to 15 miles. (Probably in thanks to remote working trend and affordability + quality of life)
4. The share of all-cash repeat buyers jumped from 17% to 27% in the past year.
The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) has exceeded 50,000 members this year! In order for the association to run smoothly, HAR has a board of directors who listens to the advice of many advisory groups. There are several advisory group that are made up of selected member volunteers who apply every year to serve. In total, there are 13 advisory groups covering major specialties including global, professional development, risk management, MLS, technology, communications, etc. Each advisory group has a chairman, a vice chair, and a full committee of volunteer members who meet throughout the year to discuss important issues that affect our realtor members. For example, Susan has served on the global advisory group every year since 2009. She was the chairman of the global group in 2018, and remains active as an honorary member in this group. The global advisory group makes realtors aware of things like FIRPTA when representing foreign sellers and creating forms such as the International Co-Marketing Agreement that Houston realtors can use when marketing international listings on HAR.com on behalf of foreign sellers represented by foreign realtors in a foreign country. Dec 1 was the annual Advisory Group luncheon where all volunteers from all groups came together to celebrate the year’s achievements. It was a great time to see many of Houston’s top realtors who work hard for both their clients and their association.
