General

WASHINGTON (April 1, 2015) – Vacation home sales boomed in 2014 to above their most recent peak level in 2006, while investment purchases fell for the fourth straight year, according to an annual survey of residential homebuyers released today by the National Association of Realtors®.

NAR’s 2015 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey,* covering existing- and new-home transactions in 2014, shows vacation-home sales catapulted to an estimated 1.13 million last year, the highest amount since NAR began the survey in ...

WASHINGTON (March 30, 2015) – Pending home sales in February increased to their highest level since June 2013 as sizeable gains in the Midwest and West offset smaller declines in the Northeast and South, according to the National Association of Realtors^®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,^* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February from a slight downward revision… Read More

NAR President Chris Polychron with HUD Secretary Julián Castro.

WASHINGTON (April 1, 2015) – A diverse group of housing industry stakeholders participated in a credit access symposium today to discuss how alternative credit scoring models could expand access to mortgage credit for responsible borrowers who may have thin credit histories or extenuating circumstances like medical debts. 

The event, co-hosted by the National Association of Realtors®, the Asian Real Estate Association of America and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate… Read ...

WASHINGTON (April 14, 2015) – The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Chris Polychron in response to leadership changes at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Community Planning and Development:

“NAR looks forward to working with Harriet Tregoning in her new position as HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for… Read More

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2015) — The National Association of Realtors®’ top-level domain .REALTOR will be available to local and state Realtor® associations as well as brokerages in the U.S. and Canada starting May 7.

NAR was one of the first associations approved to offer a top-level domain and among the first in the real estate industry to commit to this new technology. Since the .REALTOR top-level domain became available to NAR members in October 2014, more than 95,000 domains have been ...

WASHINGTON (April 15, 2015) – The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Chris Polychron, executive broker with 1st Choice Realty in Hot Springs, Ark., in support of legislation to ease regulatory burdens on mortgage lending:

“The Mortgage Choice Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night with a bipartisan vote of 286-140, improves consumer… Read More

NAR Immediate Past President Steve Brown joins American Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Shiller at an economic and policy forum today to appraise the state of the U.S. housing market.

WASHINGTON (April 21, 2015) – The nation’s leading housing economists spoke today at an economic and policy forum to appraise the state of the U.S. housing market. The event, held by the National Association of Realtors®, National Association of Home Builders, and McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute, drew more than 80 attendees ...

WASHINGTON (April 20, 2015) – Nearly a decade since the start of the foreclosure crisis, formerly distressed homeowners with restored credit are re-entering the housing market, but damaged credit profiles and lender overlays will greatly restrict the overall share of those eligible to buy, according to new research from the National Association of Realtors®. California, Florida and Arizona are expected to see the largest share of return buyers within the next decade.

NAR analyzed the nearly 9.3 million homeowners that ...

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2015) – Unnecessary regulatory burdens are preventing qualified, credit-worthy borrowers from obtaining the American Dream of homeownership. That’s according to testimony today from the National Association of Realtors® before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.  

“Realtors® support strong underwriting standards to protect consumers from the risky lending practices of the past, but we are concerned that the pendulum has swung… Read More

WASHINGTON (April 22, 2015)—Existing-home sales jumped in March to their highest annual rate in 18 months, while unsold inventory showed needed improvement, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Led by the Midwest, all major regions experienced strong sales gains in March and are above their year-over-year sales pace.

Total existing-home sales¹, which are completed transactions… Read More