From the Houston Association of Realtors:  Houston temperatures finally cooled a bit in September, but home sales remained hot. Sales of single-family homes climbed nearly 17% when compared to one year earlier, and accounted for the fourth consecutive month of increased sales volume. The prices of those homes achieved all-time highs for a September in Houston. In addition, months inventory fell to the lowest level since May 2010 while pending sales rose and active listings declined.

Bridgeland’s fifth anniversary is Oct. 14 and the master-planned community has much to celebrate.  More than 1,400 homes have been sold and approximately 4,500 residents call Bridgeland home.

This letter comes to us from happy homeowners in West Ranch in Friendswood:We recently closed on the purchase of our new Partners in Building home on Grand Ranch Lane in West Ranch, with move-in during early September. On behalf of my wife, Sally, and myself, I wanted to take this opportunity to formally recognize and sincerely thank David Farrar for his exceptional efforts in ensuring that the construction of our new home was completed on schedule, and with the utmost attention to detail and quality.

This letter comes to us from happy build on your lot homeowners in Austin:

Well, we finally finished the house.  And what a wonderful home it is!  It is everything we had wished for it to be.  For months, it became my daily routine to check the progress on the site.  Everyday after work I would swing by the house, check to see what was new, take pictures, and go back home to report the status to my four girls in my life (Marcela loves the "girl" reference). 

This year, the popular "Holiday Countdown" program offered by The Woodlands to new home buyers is back!  The program will again feature a $2,000 Woodforest National Bank MasterCard, plus valuable builders' incentives to those who purchase a new home October 1st through December 31st 2011 and close by February 29th, 2012.  Also, The Woodlands Development Company will donate $100 to the Texas Sentinels Foundation for every sale made during the promotion.

Make plans to visit Partners in Building's new model home in Sugar Land's Riverstone community this weekend, for it's grand opening.  Located at 5019 Vista Blue Lane, the model is in the Silver Grove neighborhood of Riverstone.

The mercury wasn't the only thing that soared in the month of August in Houston. Single-family home sales shot up more than 30 percent when compared to August of last year. August marked the third consecutive month of increased sales and the fourth time in 2011 that sales volume entered positive territory.

National Night Out promotes police-community partnerships as well as neighborhood spirit. When neighbors know each other, communities are safer and crime decreases. National Night Out Community-Wide Kickoff will be on Saturday, October 1, 2011, from 1 - 5 p.m. in Northshore Park in The Woodlands.

Strong home sales continue in Sienna Plantation! Currently, Sienna Plantation is home to over 22,000 residents since opening in 1997. With over 5,600 single-family homes at an average sales price of $325,000 and a $1.8+ billion tax base, Sienna is ranked #3 in Houston MPC sales. Sienna has also been in the RCLCO Top Ten Selling Communities in the country for the past five years.

Make plans to visit Bridgeland neighborhood in Cypress for the annual Howl-O-Ween Fest, set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in Bridgeland’s Oak Meadow Park.