NAR Centennial: 100 Years in Celebration of the American Dream: Chapter One

The Start of Something Big

The strength of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® today reflects the ambitious vision of its founders: the 120 men who gathered in May 1908 at a Young Men’s Christian Association hall in Chicago. Their stated goal was “to unite the real estate men of America for the purpose of exerting effectively a combined influence upon matters affecting real estate interests.”

It wasn’t the first attempt to organize a national association for the real estate industry, but the visionary players involved and the timing of the meeting made this an effort that was destined to succeed. The country had recovered from a major depression, and the population — added by a big influx of immigrants, mostly from Europe — was shifting from rural to urban. Real estate was becoming a complex business, one that required the assistance of someone in the know.

The founders sought to bring professionalism to an enterprise that had evolved more or less without rules. They understood that to earn the trust of a skeptical public, they needed to bring form and standards to the business of real estate. The foundation they built has proved enduring. What emerged from that meeting in 1908 was the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, which 100 years later thrives as the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

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