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NAR Convention Cities

One of the most important learning opportunities for REALTORS® is the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® annual convention, which has been held almost continuously since 1908. Only once — in 1944, with the world at war — did REALTORS® cancel the convention.

Today, more than 20,000 people each year gather for the REALTORS® Conference & Expo. The conference is a far cry from the early convention days when a few hundred men would meet to hash out the business of the association.

In those days, delegations from various real estate boards would charter train cars to travel to the meetings — “each stop of the train added to the contingent of men,” according to Jeffrey Hornstein, author of A Nation of REALTORS® (2005, Duke University Press).

At the convention city, there would be opening pageants, local dignitaries, speechmaking contests, and city tours. Although much has changed about the business of real estate, the revelry of the conventions remains.

Over the years, San Francisco has hosted more NAR conventions than any other city — 11 beginning in 1922. Runners up are Chicago and New Orleans, each with eight. Below are the NAR convention cities and the years they hosted.

1908 Chicago
1909 Detroit
1910 Minneapolis
1911 Denver
1912 Louisville, Ky.
1913 Winnipeg, Ont.
1914 Pittsburgh
1915 Los Angeles
1916 New Orleans
1917 Milwaukee
1918 St. Louis
1919 Atlantic City, N.J.
1920 Kansas City, Mo.
1921 Chicago
1922 San Francisco
1923 Cleveland
1924 Washington, D.C.
1925 Detroit
1926 Tulsa, Okla.
1927 Seattle
1928 Louisville, Ky.
1929 Boston
1930 Toronto
1931 Baltimore
1932 Cincinnati
1933 Chicago (held during the Chicago World's Fair, “A Century of Progress”)
1934 Minneapolis
1935 Atlantic City, N.J.
1936 New Orleans
1937 Pittsburgh
1938 Milwaukee
1939 Los Angeles
1940 Philadelphia
1941 Detroit
1942 St. Louis
1943 Cleveland
1944 Cancelled
1945 French Lick, Indiana
1946 Atlantic City, N.J.
1947 San Francisco
1948 New York
1949 Chicago
1950 Miami Beach
1951 Cincinnati
1952 Miami Beach
1953 Los Angeles
1954 Cleveland
1955 New York
1956 St. Louis
1957 Chicago
1958 San Francisco
1959 Toronto
1960 Dallas
1961 Miami Beach
1962 Detroit
1963 New York
1964 Los Angeles
1965 Chicago
1966 Miami Beach
1967 Washington, D.C.
1968 New York
1969 San Francisco
1970 Chicago
1971 Miami Beach
1972 Honolulu
1973 Washington, D.C.
1974 Las Vegas
1975 San Francisco
1976 Houston
1977 Miami Beach
1978 Honolulu
1979 New Orleans
1980 Anaheim, Calif.
1981 Miami Beach
1982 San Francisco
1983 Las Vegas (NAR’s Diamond Jubilee, 75th Anniversary)
1984 Honolulu
1985 New Orleans
1986 New York
1987 Honolulu
1988 San Francisco
1989 Dallas
1990 New Orleans
1991 Las Vegas
1992 Honolulu
1993 Miami
1994 Anaheim, Calif.
1995 Atlanta
1996 San Francisco
1997 New Orleans
1998 Anaheim, Calif.
1999 Orlando, Fla.
2000 San Francisco
2001 Chicago
2002 New Orleans
2003 San Francisco
2004 Orlando, Fla.
2005 San Francisco
2006 New Orleans
2007 Las Vegas