NAR Grants $50,000 to Fund Local Realtor® Affordable Housing Activities

Washington, November 24, 2009

To help promote and expand local affordable housing opportunities in communities across the country, the National Association of Realtors® has awarded $50,950 to 16 local and state Realtor® associations through the Housing Opportunity Fund grants program.

“Despite the recent drop in home prices there is still a lack of decent, affordable housing in many of our cities and towns,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. “Realtors® build communities and understand how a shortage of affordable housing can affect the local area. NAR’s Housing Opportunity Fund grants help us raise awareness about the issue and make a real difference in communities across the country.”

NAR’s Housing Opportunity Fund was established in 2006 and supports a wide range of activities to increase local affordable housing opportunities. For all of 2009, the Housing Opportunity Fund has awarded $100,000 to support 32 housing opportunity programs. Since the program’s inception in 2006, more than 100 grants totaling nearly $400,000 have helped support local affordable housing activities.

Grants can be used to fund a variety of activities, including housing symposia; home buyer education or housing fairs; counseling and financial literacy efforts; down payment or closing cost financial assistance programs; public opinion surveys; and Realtor® affordable housing education. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded twice per year.

The following Realtor® associations have received the most recent Housing Opportunity Fund grants:

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors® (North Charleston, S.C.): $1,500 to support an affordable housing expo in partnership with community nonprofit affordable housing organizations and others.

Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association (Charlotte, N.C.): $5,000 to host a comprehensive workforce housing forum to discuss the community’s critical affordable workforce housing issues and needs.

Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors® (Norwich, Conn.): $2,500 to support a public outreach and media campaign and a public home buyer fair.

Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors® (Baltimore, Md.): $5,000 to develop seminars focusing on barriers to homeownership for foreign born citizens.

Greater Tampa Association of Realtors® (Tampa, Fla.): $2,500 to present Home Rescue, a new communitywide forum composed of housing experts, government officials, financial institutions and nonprofits.

High Point Regional Association of Realtors® (High Point, N.C.): $1,500 to provide landscaping materials and volunteers to improve the appearance of vacant, foreclosed and dilapidated houses.

Hopkinsville-Christian County Board of Realtors® (Hopkinsville, Ky.): $5,000 to conduct an in-depth analysis of the local housing market and host a housing conference to share and discuss the findings and develop solutions.

Maryland Association of Realtors® (Annapolis, Md.): $5,000 to support participation in the “Maryland CASH Academy,” which provides consumers with free financial education classes.

Monroe County Association of Realtors® (Monroe, Ill.) $2,000 to fund a series of lunch and learn workshops for Realtors® and others working to implement affordable housing initiatives.

New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors® (Metairie, La.): $3,000 towards a series of home buyer training courses that will be provided to participants at no cost.

Orlando Regional Realtor® Association (Orlando, Fla.): $2,000 to support first-time home buyer counseling for families selected to be part of “Art in Architecture,” a community service program of the Florida Real Estate Foundation that provides affordable and attractive housing.

Peoria Area Association of Realtors® (Peoria, Ill.): $3,000 toward a financial education course, “You, Your Credit and the Real World,” which is designed for high school juniors and seniors.

Pinellas Realtor® Organization (Clearwater, Fla.): $5,000 to create a searchable database of affordable housing programs in the county.

Realtors® Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.): $1,450 to promote homeownership by hosting a housing opportunities symposium and sharing the various home buyer programs that are currently available through all levels of government.

Realtor® Association of Prince William (Woodbridge, Va.): $1,000 to expand a program that helps share housing information with teachers, firefighters, police officers and other county employees.

Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches (Lake Worth, Fla.): $5,000 to partner with the local municipality to host a symposium to help educate residents during the foreclosure process.

For additional information on NAR’s Housing Opportunity Fund or to download an application, visit www.realtor.org/housingopportunity. Applications for the next round of grants are due April 2, 2010.

To help state Realtor® associations or their housing foundations address the growing need for affordable workforce housing, NAR also provides funds of $50,000 or more through the Ira Gribin Workforce Housing Grants. The program only runs during a two-year period, 2009-2010; applications and additional information are available at www.realtor.org/iragribingrant.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

###