NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
2004 Annual Report: Letter From the President

Dear REALTOR®:

2004 was a year characterized by numbers. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® membership topped 1 million for the first time; RPAC broke participation records—40 percent of the entire membership contributed; NAR realized wins in 97 percent of the Congressional races it supported; the REALTORS® Conference & Expo was the best-attended convention in 25 years, and home sales set yet another record.

But there was an even more important story—one that went beyond simple numbers: You proved once again how generous you are. In 2004, you and your state and local associations donated thousands of dollars to disaster relief in response to tornadoes and hurricanes in the South, Southeast, and Midwest. Your generosity has continued into 2005, with $750,000 donated as of Feb. 1 for the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project. Those funds will help fund Habitat for Humanity International’s rebuilding efforts following the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami.

As these stories of giving attest, you’re proactive people who’ve also helped propel existing-homes sales to a fourth consecutive annual record: 6,675,000, up 9.4 percent from 6,100,000 in 2003. This is no small feat in a year in which U.S. employers’ seemed reluctant to create new jobs until voters made their decision in the Nov. 2 presidential election.

Healthy home sales also have had a positive spin-off effect on the American economy as a whole. An important study NAR commissioned in 2004 found that over time, consumers spend housing wealth more quickly than stock wealth. That means homeowners are more confident in gains in housing wealth than those in stock wealth.

The association had a fruitful year legislatively, too. We succeeded in getting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to withdraw its proposed rule reforming the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) because of the rule's potentially onerous impact on our industry and on consumers. We support reforms that would maintain a level playing field for service providers and put consumers first. And we successfully obtained another temporary year-long ban that keeps the U.S. Department of Treasury from finalizing its rule to allow national banks to enter real estate brokerage and management. We’ll continue to advocate for a permanent ban until we reach that important goal.

A key theme for the association has always been helping you maintain your role as the first point of contact in the transaction. To that end, NAR’s Board of Directors and Delegate Body in November passed a constitutional amendment to exclude those who exclusively engage in mortgage finance from being able to call themselves a REALTOR®. Mortgage professionals can still join as affiliate members. NAR also approved development of a REALTOR®-centric transaction platform to ensure that, as transactions move online, you'll continue to be the pivotal player.

In fall 2004, we opened a new NAR home in Washington, D.C.—an environmentally advanced building with a breathtaking view of the U.S. Capitol. The building will be the first newly constructed building in the District of Columbia to meet “green” standards, which benefit the environment and keep energy costs down.

One of the most important accomplishments of the year—one that directly affects all of us—was the unanimous ruling by a panel of U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal judges that the terms REALTOR® and REALTORS® are not generic. In the ruling, the judges denied the petition of a former hotel management student who had registered nearly 2,000 domain names containing the word REALTOR® in hopes of selling them. The decision puts to rest any question about NAR's exclusive rights to these valuable terms, which convey not only your membership status but your adherence to our professional Code of Ethics.

There were numerous other accomplishments, which I urge you to read about in our 2004 Annual Report presentation here. The online report’s index allows you to easily navigate to topics of interest to you.

The intent of all our activities in 2004 was to increase the value of membership in NAR. That’s no easy task, and success would have been impossible without the leadership of NAR Executive Vice President and CEO Terry McDermott, who will retire from NAR in 2005. I’m grateful for Terry's vision, his leadership, and his commitment to keeping your best interests at heart.

That vision and commitment are apparent among the volunteers who serve on our national committees and the highly capable executives and staff who run our state and local associations as well. I thank all of you—especially our 2004 Leadership Team, including Al Mansell and my vice presidents, Thomas M. Stevens, Pat G. Kaplan, and Larry Von Feldt—for making 2004 a year during which so many positive, productive things happened. The outstanding work we did was critically important to the success of the REALTOR® association, ensuring that the association’s focus was on things that truly mattered to you.



Walt McDonald
2004 NAR President