Tag Archives: NAR

NAR Honors Fair Housing Month, Announces 2024 Fair Housing Champion Award Winners

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Award recipients celebrated for contributions to communities and efforts in promoting homeownership to individuals from all backgrounds

Washington, D.C. – April 3, 2024 (nar.realtor) The National Association of Realtors® and Realtor.com® today honored three winners of the Fair Housing Champion Award during NAR’s Fair Housing Month event, “Many Rivers to Cross: America’s Ongoing Fair Housing Journey.” Honorees received recognition for their efforts to advance fair housing and expand homeownership in their communities.

With the Fair Housing Champion Award, Realtors® are recognized for going above and beyond to support buyers and communities that have faced housing discrimination, advocating for accessible and affordable housing opportunities, and promoting consumer and Realtor® fair housing education. Sponsored by Realtor.com®, the award provides a $5,000 prize that winners can dedicate to a housing-related nonprofit organization of their choice.

“NAR’s mission to promote the growth of prosperous, diverse, and inclusive communities across the United States is more resilient than ever,” stated NAR President Kevin Sears. “Affordability and fair housing remain the most significant challenges confronting the real estate industry today, and I am immensely proud of the dedication displayed by our award recipients in expanding access to homeownership. Their leadership has paved the way for positive change, inspiring others to join in our collective efforts.”

This year’s winners include:

Eve B. Lee, a Lake County, Illinois, community leader, has spent more than 45 years expanding housing opportunities.

Shadrick Bogany, a prominent figure in Houston real estate, advocates for homeownership as a means of empowerment, particularly within marginalized communities.

Paul Yorkis, as president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors®, successfully advocated for the state government to translate standard real estate forms into languages other than English.

“Having someone to help consumers overcome the barriers of buying a home and advocate for them in the transaction is crucial to opening more doors to the many benefits of homeownership,” said Realtor.com® Chief Marketing Officer Mickey Neuberger. “We are proud to support the professionalism of Realtors® and especially these Fair Housing Champions, who are making a real difference by helping expand housing opportunities in their communities.”

Alexia Smokler, director of NAR’s fair housing policy & programs, welcomed Patrice Ficklin, the founding director of the CFPB’s office of fair lending & equal opportunity, to the fair housing event to discuss the significance of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) on its 50th anniversary. The discussion highlighted ECOA’s role in advancing women’s access to credit and mortgage lending by prohibiting discrimination based on sex and marital status. Before ECOA, women faced significant obstacles in obtaining credit due to discriminatory practices such as requiring male co-signers and devaluing women’s income.

The conversation also delved into the amendments made to ECOA in 1976, expanding protected classes and introducing special-purpose credit programs while addressing contemporary challenges such as digital discrimination and unjust lending restrictions based on criminal history or public assistance income.

Ficklin concluded, “In the past 50 years, we’ve come a long way from women being interrogated by lenders on their family planning and marriage plans to qualify for credit, but the work to ensure fairness and equity is far from over. We cannot solve these problems alone or in a vacuum, but I am hopeful and encouraged by our collective efforts to advance the important yet unfinished work of advancing economic justice.”

NAR’s Vice President of Policy Advocacy, Bryan Greene, welcomed Thomas Sugrue, a preeminent civil rights historian, to discuss the activism preceding the 1964 Civil Rights Act, whose 60th anniversary NAR commemorated at the event. Their discussion emphasized the ongoing struggle against racial discrimination in various aspects of society, such as in the workplace, education, and housing. While the 1964 Civil Rights Act addressed some forms of discrimination, including in public spaces and employment, it notably did not confront issues in the private housing market. That didn’t happen until 1968, with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, seven days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sugrue highlighted that individuals’ housing choices today are still constrained by discrimination and other racial barriers beyond their control. “We often turn a blind eye to it or just assume that housing segregation is a result of individual choice,” he said. “It’s not.” The discussion underscored the need for strengthened enforcement of existing laws, greater awareness of ongoing discrimination, and interventions to address systemic barriers to fair housing access.

The National Association of Realtors® is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The term Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Real Estate Podcast: Investing in Real Estate in the Spring of 2024

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Is the spring the time for you to invest in real estate and build wealth? In today’s Real Estate Podcast, from the National Association of REALTORS, REALTOR® Peter West discusses the benefits of investing in multifamily or single-family properties and the responsibilities required for each asset class. REALTOR® Bill Milliken from Michigan discusses commercial real estate investing, the impact working from home has on properties, and the trend to convert office buildings to residential space.

Melissa Dittman Tracey shares whether using vinegar to clean your stone countertops is hot or not. Elizabeth Renter from NerdWallet discusses their First-Time Home Buyer Affordability Report — Q4 2023 and the challenges in the real estate market, especially for first-time home buyers.

AgencyLogic shares the best real estate podcasts daily. Click here for more great podcasts!

Millennials Reclaim Position as Largest Group of Home Buyers

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Key Highlights

  • Millennials surpass baby boomers and become the largest group of home buyers at 38%.
  • Nearly one out of three Gen Z buyers are single females.
  • Baby boomers remain the largest generation of home sellers at 45%.

Washington, D.C. – April 3, 2024 (nar.realtor) Millennials have surged ahead to become the largest group of home buyers, marking a significant shift in the housing market’s demographic landscape, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors®.

The 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, which examines the similarities and differences among recent home buyers and sellers across generations,1 found that the combined share of millennials, both younger (ages 25 to 33) and older (ages 34 to 43), now make up a combined 38% of the home buying market, a substantial increase from 28% last year. Baby boomers, comprising both younger boomers (ages 59 to 68) and older boomers (ages 69 to 77), saw their share decrease from 39% to 31%, relinquishing their position as last year’s largest demographic of home buyers.

“The generational tug-of-war between millennials and baby boomers continued this year, with millennials rebounding to capture the largest share of home buyers,” said Dr. Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “This notable rise is attributed to both younger millennials stepping into homeownership for the first time and older millennials transitioning to larger homes that suit their evolving needs.”

The report underscored a rise in first-time buyers across many generations, with 32% of all buyers purchasing for the first time, an increase from 26% last year. Leading the charge were younger millennials, whose proportion of first-time buyers increased from 70% to 75% over the past year. Forty-four percent of older millennials and 24% of Generation X (ages 44-58) were first-time buyers.

In parallel, the emergence of Generation Z (ages 18-24) in the housing market paints a picture of diversity and independence. While this cohort only accounted for 3% of all buyers, an impressive 31% of Gen Z purchasers were single females – a proportion significantly higher than that observed in any other generation.

“Gen Z buyers are entering the housing market, and their demographics are emerging distinctly from other age groups,” Lautz said. “More than half are single buyers, outpacing all age groups of single men and single women, and they are also most likely to identify as LGBTQ+.”

Despite these shifts in buyer trends, baby boomers remained the largest home-seller generation, accounting for 45% of all sellers in 2023. The tenure of homeownership before making a sale varied significantly by generation. While the median among all buyers was a 10-year stay before selling, older millennials typically sold their homes after just six years, contrasting sharply with Gen X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation (ages 78-98), who typically stayed in their homes for 15 years.

“Baby boomers continue to dominate the home-selling market as they make pivotal decisions regarding their retirement living situations, whether it’s right-sizing or moving closer to loved ones,” Lautz said. “Benefiting from longer periods of homeownership compared to other generations, boomers approach these transactions with substantial equity, enabling strategic housing trades.”

In the face of changing market dynamics, the enduring appeal of homeownership remains strong. This year’s report revealed that 82% of all buyers consider a home purchase a good financial investment, with this sentiment especially pronounced among younger millennials, 86% of whom echo this positive outlook.

Across all generations, nine out of ten buyers indicated they would either definitely (75%) or probably (15%) enlist their real estate agent’s services again or recommend them to others. Similarly, among sellers, 87% expressed they were likely to reuse or refer their agent.

“The universal value of owning a home transcends every generation, serving as a cornerstone for both personal prosperity and community development,” said NAR President Kevin Sears, broker-partner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield, Massachusetts. “In navigating the complexities of the market, buyers and sellers continue to rely on agents who are Realtors® for their expertise and guidance, underscoring the invaluable service they provide in bringing dreams of homeownership to life.”

Methodology

NAR mailed a 129-question survey in July 2023 using a random sample weighted to be representative of sales on a geographic basis to 189,750 recent home buyers. Buyers had to have purchased a primary residence home between July 2022 and June 2023. The survey received 6,817 responses from primary residence buyers. After accounting for undeliverable questionnaires, the survey had an adjusted response rate of 3.6%.

All information in this report is characteristic of the 12-month period ending June 2023, with the exception of income data, which are reported for 2022. In some sections, comparisons are provided for results obtained in previous surveys. Not all results are directly comparable due to changes in questionnaire design and sample size.

About the National Association of Realtors®

The National Association of Realtors® is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The term Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

# # #1 Survey generational breakdowns: Generation Z: (ages 18-24); younger Generation Y/millennials (ages 25-33); older Generation Y/millennials (ages 34-43); Generation X (ages 44-58); younger boomers (ages 59-68); older boomers (ages 69-77); and the Silent Generation (ages 78-98).