Earlier this month, while National Association of Realtors (NAR) members were in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Congress, 31 of the association’s leaders were traveling around the country virtually, rather than literally.
The NAR media tour, titled “Real Estate and Housing Market Trends After Summer,” featured members of the NAR leadership team, regional vice chairs, and state and local chairs interacting with television and radio reporters from around the country.
The one-day tour, which took place from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, featured 332 broadcasts and reached nearly 11 million viewers using virtual and satellite connections to broadcast stations, as well as on-site camera, lighting and audio production capabilities, according to Mantill Williams, NAR’s vice president of public affairs and communications. More importantly, the tour gave local, state and national leaders an opportunity to speak about NAR’s latest Metropolitan Area Home Price Report, which tracks median prices in 221 metropolitan areas, reinforcing the value of working with agents who are REALTORs®. The tour is part of NAR’s Active Representation campaign, providing NAR members with content and context to highlight the REALTOR® difference in their local markets and across the nation.
“Memphis is doing well,” Regina Hubbard, president of the Tennessee Association of Realtors, told Andrew Douglas of the city’s NBC station WMC-TV’s Action News 5. “We expect sales to pick up through the spring and summer. The average sales price is $272,400, up about 1.4 percent.” [year over year]. “
Memphis real estate broker HUBBARD ABR RENE reminded Action News viewers that there are “a lot of moving parts” in real estate transactions. Working with an agent gives buyers an advantage. “We know what’s going on in that market. We know the process. We know the forms and disclosures,” she said. “We want to make sure our clients know about those things and that they’re handled in a timely manner, otherwise it could be very costly for our clients.”
Reporting on the fact that the median price in the New York metropolitan area is $663,000, up more than 18% from last year, Bronx.net’s Kivin Alleyne asked NAR regional vice president Jennifer Stevenson why young people feel like buying a home isn’t for them.
“I work primarily with first-time homebuyers in my market,” says Stevenson, ABR, PSA, a broker in Ogdensburg, N.Y. “What I tell them is, even if interest rates are a little higher, even if home prices are a little higher, once you buy a home it’s yours, and every time you make a payment you’re putting some money in the bank for yourself. You’re increasing the equity of that home. And we’re seeing a lot of our younger buyers actually home sharing. They’re finding roommates to lessen the impact on their paychecks. They’re still navigating that situation, and it’s still working, it’s just in a different way.”
At about the same time, about 1,700 miles southwest of New York and 645 miles southwest of Memphis, Trevor Scott, host of “We Are Austin” on CBS affiliate KEYE-TV in Austin, Texas, was talking with Jeff Conn, president of the Texas Association of Realtors.
“The local real estate market has been a rollercoaster ride over the last few years,” Scott said. “How have things been going this spring and how do you expect the rest of the year to unfold?”
“There are more homes on the market this spring than there were last year,” says Conn, CCIM, C2EX, a commercial worker in Houston. “The past few years have been tough for anyone trying to buy a home in the Austin area, but there is more inventory on the market — in fact, there’s four months’ worth of inventory for the first time in a decade. … That means consumers, just like you, have more options when it comes to their home search.”
“The median price is $467,000, which is about the same as it will be in 2022,” Cohn added. “But I’m sure our viewers remember that prices skyrocketed from 2020 to 2022, so it’s good to see that slowing down. We still have to deal with rising interest rates, but it’s good to see prices not rising as quickly as we’re looking to buy our next home.”
“It doesn’t matter who you are,” Scott said, “this is not a situation you can go through alone.”
“That’s absolutely true,” Cohn says. “Don’t be totally stressed out. Find a real estate agent, a REALTOR®, that you can trust to help you get through the process.”
