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The National Association of REALTORS® released its 2024 Year in Review on Tuesday. The 33-page report is an assessment of the organization’s past year, highlighting member benefits across eight areas—and promising a new mission-driven era.
Last year brought significant milestones for the association, including settlement of the Sitzer-Burnett lawsuit, implementation of residential practice changes for members, and approval of Culture Transformation Commission recommendations to bring greater accountability and transparency. All this came as members worked to navigate a challenging market, with limited inventory, higher interest rates and shifting living and work patterns.
“The past year tested our resilience as an industry, as an association and as individuals,” NAR President Kevin Sears said in a letter that opened the report. “As we embark on 2025, I want to express my gratitude to you—our members, the broker community, the local and state associations, and our MLS and industry partners—for the incredible work you’ve done to push through these challenges and help set the stage for our industry’s future.”
Building Trust, Collaboration
NAR CEO Nykia Wright said the association must evolve to meet the needs of members “today and tomorrow” while building on the momentum generated last year.
“In 2024, we cut costs and passed our first balanced budget in at least 10 years,” Wright said. “We also conducted in-depth research to begin laying the groundwork for a new member experience.”
She added: “The work to redefine our broker relationships; better leverage our relationships with state and local associations to optimize member value; build on our strategic partnerships with aligned Institutes, Societies and Councils; demonstrate our appreciation for the many volunteer leaders who are instrumental to driving our mission forward; and reposition our staff to meet the ever-growing needs of these stakeholder populations will shape our 2025 activities.”
Wright has engaged two new partners in the effort: In early January, NAR announced that Sherry Chris, former CEO of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and ERA Real Estate, would join the association as a special advisor to help strengthen relationships, build trust and enhance collaboration with brokerage leaders. On Jan. 15, Jarrod Grasso was named senior vice president of industry relations for NAR, a role dedicated to enhancing the association’s relationship with state and local association leaders. Grasso joins NAR after serving the New Jersey REALTORS® for more than two decades, most recently as their CEO.
Supporting Member Success
In 2024, to assist members in preparing for practice changes outlined in the settlement, NAR launched facts.realtor to provide updates and guidance. The resource includes more than 120 FAQs, a legal video series that garnered more than 800,000 views, and more than a dozen consumer guides, in English and Spanish, for members to use while working with clients. The association also provided its Accredited Buyer’s Representation (ABR®) designation course at no cost to members; nearly 162,000 REALTORS® took advantage of that benefit.
More than 1,000 NAR members joined a grassroots effort—as surrogates—in 2024 to help educate consumers about the practice changes. Those interested in joining the program can email surrogates@nar.realtor.
In the advocacy arena, NAR scored significant wins: defending private property rights, securing the OK for VA buyers to compensate their brokers directly as the Department of Veterans Affairs studies the issue further, and supporting industry-friendly policies and candidates at all levels of government. The REALTORS® Political Action Committee—which backed 50% Democratic and 50% Republican federal candidates—achieved a 97% success rate in the 2024 election cycle.
Underpinning NAR’s advocacy success is a highly regarded research team that provides thought leadership and produces key housing market data and research reports. In 2024, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz and their team spoke at more than 400 in-person and virtual visits across our 1,100-plus local and state associations, brokerages and third-party organizations. NAR’s research content generated 1.9 million website visits, 240,000 report downloads and 100,000 social shares in 2024, signifying the appetite members and consumers have for reliable housing data and research reports.
