Could your clients afford a 20% down payment? Could you? Can you envision what your prospective client pool will look like if new regulations governing Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM) take effect this year? Neither can we. And neither can many elected officials in Congress who did not intend for these regulatory provisions to be so narrowly defined. We must continue our efforts to explain how detrimental the new QRM rules would be to the ongoing housing and lending crisis in America. According to NAR Research, 60% of recent home buyers made less than a 20% down payment, and it would take 14 years for a typical person to save up a 20% down payment to buy a median-priced home. Please contact Congress and ask them to make it clear to the regulators that this proposed regulation was not their legislative intent and to instead implement a more reasonable Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) that will keep credit-worthy buyers in the market and able to acquire a loan. Visit today to send a letter to your congressperson. NAR Call to Action: 20% Down Payment

Weekly HAR Market Stat Now that the credit period no longer appears in the baseline of year-over-year comparisons, the story has changed significantly. Keep in mind that there was a post-credit slump at this time in Current activity hasn't necessarily soared as much as last year's activity plunged. In the Houston region, for the week ending May 15: New listings decreased 2.9% to 2,180 Pending sales increased 50.6% to 1,357 Closed sales decreased 31.5% to 853

Register Online at Questions? ext. 6 TREC Updates Abound TREC Ethics Date: Wed., May 25 Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Location: HAR Central Investment: $25 TREC Legal Update Date: Wed., May 25 Time: 1 – 4 p.m. Location: HAR Central Investment: $25