REALTORS® serve residential and commercial property buyers and sellers in every zip code every day. Guided by enhanced training, earned expertise, and a Code of Ethics, our services play a critical role in helping more people achieve the American Dream. With current market challenges like rising prices and low inventory, as well as shifting trends in commercial real estate, those seeking to buy or sell a home or open or expand a business know they need a REALTOR® by their side.
Most of America’s 1.5 million REALTORS® are small business owners. Our profession makes up nearly 20 percent of the entire U.S. economy.
Owning real estate is a foundational bridge to financial security that should be open to all. Here’s how we help the millions of Americans who aspire to join the nation’s 83 million property owners.
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REALTORS® strive to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to achieve homeownership, which is the centerpiece of the American Dream and the pathway to economic well-being and intergenerational wealth-building. However, a historic 50-year record shortage of affordable homes available for purchase has severely limited access to the residential real estate market.
A recent study estimates that the U.S. has developed an “underbuilding gap” of 5.5 million housing units over the last 20 years. This translates into a $4.4 trillion underinvestment in housing. Even relatively modest steps taken now to reduce this gap will unleash tremendous economic activity and create millions of new jobs.
At the same time, the pandemic created shifts in the commercial real estate market, especially in the office and retail sectors. Policies that support repurposing underutilized or vacant commercial properties can revitalize communities by creating new commercial uses and housing.
How would the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act stabilize and revitalize struggling neighborhoods?
Whom would the NHIA program assist?
What is the projected impact of the NHIA?
Why should Congress incentivize adaptive reuse of commercial properties?
Our economy, communities, and the American people suffer when discrimination and segregation artificially constrain homeownership and limit the intergenerational wealth it builds. As stewards of the right to own, use, and transfer private property, REALTORS® know an open housing market free from discrimination benefits us all.
Yet, more than fifty years after passage of the Fair Housing Act, the homeownership rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans continues to lag behind that of White Americans. NAR is firmly committed to the enforcement of fair housing laws and to policies that remove historic and systemic barriers to homeownership for all qualified buyers.
Why is the federal government paying private nonprofits to investigate housing discrimination?
These are significant percentage increases from prior year funding. Why the big jump?
The Housing Fairness Act includes a provision supporting the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule; is that a federal overreach into local zoning policies?
The NAR Research department is a resource both for REALTORS® and the Members of Congress who represent them. Our skilled economists produce and analyze a wide range of data, providing the best resources and information on real estate.
Research reports, papers, case studies, and surveys examine the latest trends and activities in real estate, as well as the impact national policies have or may have on this critical sector that makes up one-fifth of the nation’s economy. These resources are available to policymakers, and we encourage their use when considering legislation that affects real estate and real estate professionals.
Here are just a few of the recent NAR Research reports that can inform policymaking:
These and many more reports, surveys, and data collections are available on the NAR Research page.
SAVE THE DATE: On June 1, Dr. Jessica Lautz, NAR’s vice president of demographics and behavioral insights, will offer a briefing for Members and congressional staff on the current state of the real estate industry.
REALTORS® go above and beyond to make ownership a reality for millions of prospective property owners. We are not only champions for consumers, but also for the communities we serve.
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