FRONT LINES: Fast Takes
Home ownership = good life
For years, summaries of academic research have been trickling into the consumer press about the social benefits of home ownership. Now, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has completed a systematic review of this research and finds a strong case for public policies that promote home ownership as an unbeatable way to provide the kind of stable housing that leads to a wide variety of household benefits and, by extension, social benefits for the community. Among those pluses, according to NAR’s Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing:
• Higher educational performance and better behavior of children
• Lower community crime rates
• Lessened welfare dependency among households
• More household participation in civic affairs
• Better household health
Hello, Las Vegas.
The 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, which kicks off NAR’s 100th anniversary celebration, is moving to Las Vegas from Chicago. The reason: unavailability of contracted hotel space. “NAR very much wanted to celebrate its anniversary in Chicago,” says Sue Gourley, NAR’s vice president of conventions. “However, we’re pleased to have secured an appealing alternate location. We expect to have another wonderful conference and record-breaking year.” Conference dates are Nov. 12–16, 2007, at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Wider MLS reach sought.
Practitioners want to see their market regions expanded through larger MLS jurisdictions, a Center for REALTOR® Technology survey of 1,000 respondents finds. MLS executives see the ideal market size as one encompassing an entire metropolitan area. In a key difference between the two groups, almost two-thirds of practitioners believe public MLS home search sites compete with their own, while MLS executives see them as good for the industry.
In memoriam. J.D. Sawyer, who served as president of NAR in 1973, passed away on March 25. He was 89 years old. Sawyer cofounded Sawyer, REALTORS®, in Middletown, Ohio, in 1938, which is now owned by his son John Sawyer.
Credit scores standardized.
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—the big three in consumer credit scores—announced the availability of a standardized scoring protocol in March to make it easier for consumers to understand what their scores mean. The new VantageScore will offer ratings ranging from 501 to 990, with those above 900 earning an “A.” Under the new system, any differences in one consumer’s scores across the three companies reflect data differences in the companies’ files and aren’t related to the scoring formula, the companies say.
MORE ONLINE
Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing
The 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo
NAR MLS Survey Shows Consolidation, Data Sharing
