Facing an array of controversies, challenges, scandals and legal troubles on multiple fronts, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is entering 2025 with a lot of work to do. As policy changes shook up the basic structure of real estate, and pressure ramped up on other foundational industry practices, brokers looked to NAR more than ever in 2024 for leadership, guidance, education and representation.
How did the REALTOR® advocacy organization meet this moment? Leading brokers polled as part of RISMedia’s Broker Confidence Index (BCI) were decidedly mixed in their assessment, saying that NAR struggled to effectively address urgent issues even as many still recognized its essential role of advocacy in these turbulent times.
“(W)e need NAR, but they definitely need to clean up their act,” said Jack Fry, broker/owner of RE/MAX of Reading. “Complete transparency is absolutely essential.”
Along with the many, many lawsuits, NAR also dealt with multiple internal controversies in 2024, including two New York Times’ exposés focused on political and personal spending. While many brokers qualitatively focused on the lawsuits as their reason for dissatisfaction, those revelations clearly had an impact on how real estate professionals viewed NAR, with 42% of respondents referencing recent investigative reports as affecting their feelings about NAR.
Brokers were also asked specifically if they were reconsidering their NAR membership in the new year due to recent events or revelations about the organization, and to explain their decision-making. Slightly less than half (44%) said explicitly they were reconsidering, while even those who reiterated support for NAR expressed concerns.
“(T)he internal self-inflicted challenges are having a negative impact on my views of the organization and its ability to operate as a world-class enterprise,” said one broker who requested anonymity.
NAR reported slight drops in membership across 2024, but attributed most of that to market fluctuations. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun also recently predicted a more significant drop in real estate agents in 2025.
Asked to rate NAR’s effectiveness in eight different areas as a “performance review,” brokers graded the organization harshly on MLS issues, legal defense and representing the brand, while offering somewhat higher marks on the longer-term missions of advocacy, training and equity.
NAR’s approach to the complicated and evolving MLS landscape very clearly left something to be desired for respondents, receiving the second-lowest rating as the real estate community remains split on the Clear Cooperation policy, and multiple brokers have filed lawsuits claiming REALTOR® associations illegally gatekeep MLS access.
Most recently, NAR announced it would take legal action and revoke the charter of a local REALTOR® association in Arizona which is offering a special program to provide MLS access to non-REALTORS®. The BCI survey was conducted before that news broke.
On the other hand, brokers offered a stronger—but still middling—assessment of NAR’s work in advocacy. Interestingly, NAR received the highest rating for its work on property rights—an issue that was tangential to one of the New York Times’ investigations, as NAR was accused of funding conservative organizations unrelated to housing or property rights through a subsidiary.
One broker specifically pointed to those “new revelations,” calling the donations to non-housing groups “blatant” and noting that NAR often touts the bipartisan operation of its RPAC political arm (separate from the organization investigated by the Times).
NAR also received relatively high marks for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (third-highest) even as many companies and organizations have at least somewhat backed down from those priorities against pushback mostly from the political right.
Ratings for how NAR handled representation of the industry in the media were very low, with not a single broker rating the organization as “most effective” in that area. NAR received a nearly identical rating—also with zero “most effective votes”—for how it educated consumers on real estate issues.
And (maybe unsurprisingly) NAR received the lowest overall rating for legal defense, with brokers still vocally upset over the still ongoing commission lawsuit saga and Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations. In fact, 58% of brokers gave NAR a “least effective” rating on this issue, and 32% specifically mentioned legal issues as part of their reasoning for reconsidering NAR membership.
“I have been involved with NAR for a number of years. I saw the abuse of member money, and am glad that has been exposed. I still believe they do invaluable work on the policy and political front,” said another broker who requested anonymity.
With broker confidence in the industry still relatively low, and with more legal issues (both new and continuing) waiting in 2025, NAR is continuing to face pressure to carry out its stated mission of “empower(ing) REALTORS® as they persevere, protect and advance the right to real property for all.”
No inventory, more problems
To end the year, the overall BCI rating fell slightly from 6.4 to 6.2, remaining relatively flat through the winter after a sharp drop at the end of the summer. It was also slightly higher than the same time last year, when the BCI came in at 6, and a significant improvement over 2022, when the index clocked it near its all-time low at 5.5.
Brokers mostly reported a lack of inventory, despite some recent data showing there have been increases in homes available for sale. Several also mentioned issues with homeowners insurance—something that has not previously been cited by brokers as affecting their confidence.
A handful of brokers also cited the recent policy changes as creating uncertainty, which eroded confidence in real estate. For the most part, brokers have reported minimum disruptions from the NAR settlement, though longer-term effects remain unknown.
Four in 10 (40%) respondents mentioned inventory as a primary area of concern in their markets, while only 34% mentioned interest rates—a significant change from earlier in the year, when interest rates were the primary concern for brokers.
A small but significant number of respondents also mentioned the end of the election as boosting their confidence, after brokers previously predicted a boost in sales following the uncertainty of a bitter presidential campaign.
