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Preparing to close out a 30-year career at the National Association of REALTORS®, NAR CEO Bob Goldberg announced this week that he will retire at the end of 2024.
Goldberg, who has led the nation’s largest trade association as CEO since August 2017, was first hired at NAR in 1995 to lead the early development of realtor.com®. Goldberg also has worked to foster greater innovation in real estate globally and champion ongoing advocacy efforts to support homeownership and the work of real estate professionals.
“Bob’s selfless commitment to our association has been inspiring to me and to everyone who’s served on NAR’s leadership team these past six years,” says NAR President Kenny Parcell. “He’s done so much in a relatively short time that will help REALTORS® and consumers thrive both today and decades into the future. Bob has made a lasting impact on our industry and all three levels of this association—local, state and national.”
NAR recently was named a top employer by the Great Place to Work Institute for the third consecutive year. Companies that earn the distinction are found to have high levels of employee satisfaction and lower rates of voluntary turnover.
Celebrating a 30-Year Career
Goldberg is credited for leading the association on a number of efforts and advancements, including:
- Fostering tech innovation: Goldberg spearheaded the creation of NAR’s Strategic Business, Innovation and Technology team, which has supported more than 220 global firms through NAR’s growth accelerator, REACH, and its investment arm, Second Century Ventures. Goldberg also was instrumental in creating NAR’s Innovation, Opportunity & Investment (iOi) Summit, an annual event that attracts hundreds of industry professionals, proptech leaders and global investors to encourage tech innovation in the real estate business.
- Furthering advocacy efforts: Under Goldberg’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, NAR’s advocacy team worked with Capitol Hill lawmakers to grant “essential” status to the real estate industry so members could continue working. It also enabled housing to help lead the economic recovery during the pandemic. What’s more, Goldberg has led the advocacy team on a number of issues, including stronger fair housing and fair lending enforcement as well as federal policy to help close racial homeownership gaps.
- Promoting DEI and fair housing: In a 2022 opinion piece, Goldberg called the effort to close racial wealth and homeownership gaps “the most consequential civil rights issue of our day.” He has led NAR in prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion for staff and members and combatting systemic discrimination. NAR has launched a number of fair housing programs and partnerships, including the hiring of the association’s first director of fair housing policy in 2019.
- Supporting members: Under his tenure, Goldberg has led efforts to ensure NAR member dues are allocated more efficiently. His work has resulted in savings of more than $45 million for the association since 2017. During the pandemic, he revived the association’s “Right Tools, Right Now” program, which offers real estate services to members, including telemedicine, housing reports and more. He also has fostered growth in other member benefits, like the Realtors Property Resource® and NAR REALTOR Benefits® (which has negotiated more than 40 strategic partnerships since 2017).
“My time at NAR has been extremely gratifying and, I hope, extremely successful, too,” Goldberg says. “I’ve had the chance to lead a wonderful staff, and we’ve taken pride in making sure this organization is as valuable and responsive to our members as possible. Although there is still much to accomplish in the next year and a half, I am glad this timeline will give our leadership ample opportunity to conduct a thorough, national search. I look forward to supporting that team however possible as their work to find NAR’s next CEO begins in the coming days.”
The association said it will provide additional information on its CEO search and application process early next week.
