Real Estate Magazine • May 2022 • Page 52

To Best Serve Consumers in a Complex Market, REALTORS ® Must Have Their Own Financial House in Order By Bob Goldberg A quick look at the U.S. housing market earlier this winter indicated some cooling from the early days of the pandemic. In February, the National Association of REALTORS ® (NAR) reported that existing home sales were down 7.2%. This came on the heels of a 5.7% month-over-month drop in January, as limited inventory and rising mortgage rates continued to hamstring affordability. continues its work in Washington to ensure Americans from every back-ground have access to homeowner-ship, U.S. consumers are still seeking out property at historic levels. And, as monthly sales levels rise and fall, a lack of demand or desire is not to blame. There were, in fact, nearly ﬁ ve offers for every home sold in Febru-ary, according to a recent REAL-Much of NAR’s advocacy efforts are focused on these persisting, nation-wide supply constraints. Fortunately, $25 billion for affordable housing production was recently secured in legislation moving through Congress, as was $1.75 billion in grants for other key inventory-related priorities, like zoning reform. But while NAR’s advocacy team 52 May 2022 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE TORS ® Conﬁ dence Index Survey that exceeded numbers recorded in the months prior. On top of that, NAR reported in March that middle-income Ameri-cans gained more than $2 trillion in household wealth over the past de-cade. Indeed, millions of younger Americans and ﬁ rst-time buyers con-tinue to show an unrelenting appetite to capitalize on all the long-term ben-eﬁ ts of property ownership. Ultimately, REALTORS ® exist to serve consumers; to remain the trust-ed source of real estate information at the center of every transaction; to hold unparalleled levels of communi-ty knowledge; and to serve as some of the most invested, engaged mem-bers of those communities. REALTORS ® work tirelessly in an unrelenting and ultra-competitive market to make the American Dream a reality for their clients. But that mis-sion can only be executed if agents have every possible tool to secure and stabilize their own professional and personal lives. Here, too, is where NAR’s engagement is critical. As part of a comprehensive toolkit of resources offered to REALTORS ® through various association-and industry-wide initiatives, NAR has created the Center for REALTOR ® Financial Wellness (CRFW). This of-fering was designed speciﬁ cally to meet our members’ unique ﬁ nancial planning needs and to ensure their focus—day in and day out—remains on serving the clients who have put so much trust in their hands. Nearly 25,000 REALTORS ® are currently enrolled in the CRFW plat-form, which includes educational materials and resources for wealth building, business planning and in-vesting in real estate—all at no ad-ditional cost. An added partnership with Morgan Stanley helps NAR members access discounted planning and consulting services in the pursuit of a stable ﬁ nancial future.