April is the Month To Spring Fair Housing Forward, By The Numbers, Success Stories, and More View e-mail in browser April 8, 2020 April is the Month To Spring Fair Housing Forward April is Fair Housing Month, when we honor the sacrifices and tenacity shown by so many during the ongoing fight to expand equal access to homeownership and private property in America. LEARN MORE By The Numbers 37% Millennials now comprise the largest share of homebuyers–37%–according NAR’s 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report. The majority of millennials and Gen Z buyers are also increasingly reliant on REALTORS® to navigate their homebuying process. In fact, 91% of younger millennial buyers cited a real estate agent as their prime information source during the home search. READ MORE 60 Support in the Senate for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act remains well below the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the legislation into law. Still, NAR’s advocacy team has launched a vigorous campaign to educate lawmakers on the independent contractor classification’s importance to real estate while fighting to ensure any similar policy considered in the future does not apply to REALTORS®. READ MORE $66,000 The average home sold for $66,000 more than its previous sale price in 2020, NAR’s 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report found. The study showed baby boomers benefitting most from today’s market, as home sellers aged 66 to 74 saw a median equity gain of $100,000. READ MORE 84.9 As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues, Americans are feeling more upbeat about the economy than they’ve been since the pandemic began, according to the Consumer Sentiment Index. Economists noted that the improvements in consumer attitudes recorded last month–up to an index 84.9–are virtually unprecedented while predicting the housing market will continue to surge in 2021. READ MORE 90% Even as internet research about home purchases reached an all-time high in 2020, nine in 10 people still choose to work with a real estate agent to buy a home. As outlined in an OpEd published by NAR President Charlie Oppler, agents remain an integral part of the home buying and selling process as consumers continue to seek professional assistance before making these complex and consequential decisions. READ MORE The REALTOR® Party At Work Highlighted here are a few of the many REALTOR® Party success stories across the nation. These and others are cataloged in the Success Stories section on REALTORParty.realtor. With a Fair Housing Grant, the Greater Syracuse Association of REALTORS® Strengthens its Efforts to Banish Racial Bias In light of all that’s been learned about racial bias in the past year, the Greater Syracuse Association of REALTORS® has worked to raise awareness about how the issue is at play in New York’s real estate industry. After NAR launched its interactive Fairhaven program, the 1,780-member organization in Central New York began planning its own double-feature that would introduce the educational simulation to its members. A Fair Housing Grant from the REALTOR® Party helped make it all possible. READ MORE REALTORS® Leverage Housing Opportunity Grant to Promote Affordable Housing in Bellingham, Washington With a total of only about fifty properties listed in its MLS, and just twenty within Bellingham city limits, the 850-member Whatcom County Association of REALTORS® recently made headlines for its work to address local housing availability. Using a Housing Opportunity Grant from the REALTOR® Party, the association launched its “Bellingham for Everyone” campaign to mobilize community members to encourage regional housing policies that will bring about diverse housing and increased affordability.  READ More Placemaking Grant from the REALTOR® Party Helps the Selkirk Association of REALTORS® Support Development of an ADA-Compliant Trail When the local Land Trust acquired 180 acres for a community forest outside Sandpoint, Idaho, the Selkirk Association of REALTORS® made supporting accessibility a priority. With a Placemaking Grant from the REALTOR® Party, the association invested in the ADA-compliant, half-mile loop. Numerous local REALTOR® volunteers pitched in to deliver and install four benches along the trail, each of which bears a plaque engraved with the name of the Selkirk Association of REALTORS®. READ More Resources & Opportunities The Path to Scaling a PropTech Startup The latest “Proptech with NAR” video series discusses some of the data challenges PropTech startups face when trying to scale. In this discussion, NAR Directors of Emerging Technology Dave Conroy and Dan Weisman discuss with their guests how cloud service providers can help address these common issues. LEARN MORE Participate in the NAR Smart Growth Challenge to build more livable communities. Associations are invited to submit their best proposals under three separate grant categories, each designed to help REALTORS® make their communities become better places to live, work, and raise a family. Associations that execute a grant in 2021 will be featured in NAR’s On Common Ground magazine or on its Best Practices Webinar, where they will be asked to demonstrate the impact these projects can have on an association’s advocacy and community betterment efforts. LEARN MORE Engage your community. Build coalitions. Advocate for housing affordability. With home prices expected to rise further in 2021 and 2022, NAR’s Housing Affordability Toolkit continues to provide valuable resources to help REALTORS® and state and local REALTOR® associations address affordability challenges in the communities they serve. The toolkit is based on the successes of other associations and offers practical tips and examples for a range of activities, including buyer education classes, housing forums, and more. LEARN MORE Rural Outreach Grant’s help Stabilize, Secure, and Strengthen Rural Communities NAR offers Rural Outreach Grants to help local associations address many of the unique needs of rural communities, including broadband infrastructure; septic, sewer and well maintenance; and open space preservation issues. As part of its broader rural outreach initiative, NAR offers individualized resources and technical assistance to REALTOR® associations in U.S. communities with less than 30,000 residents and which are rural in character. LEARN MORE The Search is Over! Be Found with a Top-level Domain Set yourself apart and set your business up for exponential growth with a .realtor™ or .realestate domain that separates you from the pack and clearly positions your brand as a cut above the competition. Claim your name and up your game today at get.realtor! LEARN MORE Interactive REALTOR® Party Resource Guide Get the latest updates and information on advocacy grants, programs, resources, and educational opportunities with the Interactive REALTOR® Party Resource Guide. A new design, dynamic search functions, and integrated REALTOR® Party Tracker data offer a complete view of the REALTOR® Party at work in communities nationwide. Bookmark this invaluable online resource today. LEARN MORE

Send us examples of how your association put NAR’s REALTOR® Party resources to work to implement a successful advocacy or community outreach program. Email your stories to: realtorparty@realtors.org. See more than 300 stories documenting how REALTOR® associations around the country put REALTOR® Party Resources to work at the REALTOR® Party Success Stories page. This newsletter replaces the NAR Weekly Report for this week and the second week of every month. The REALTOR® Party News will publish next on May 13, 2021. If you missed a previous edition check out the REALTOR® Party News Archive. Headquarters: 430 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 DC Office: 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001-2020 | 1-800-874-6500