Realtors® Advocate in Washington, DC

It’s been a busy week for Realtors® advocating on the behalf of the real estate industry and consumers.

The National Association of Realtors® held its annual Legislative Meetings to focus on federal legislative priority issues this week.

During the meetings, NAR recognized 14 PAR members for their investments in RPAC and they were honored at NAR’s RPAC Hall of Fame ceremony in National Harbor, Maryland.

Realtors® met with members of Congress to discuss topics in three main areas: housing inventory and supply, fair housing and NAR research.

NAR is urging federal legislators to improve access to homeownership, increase housing inventory and encourage adaptive reuse of commercial properties by supporting the following bills:

• Housing Supply and Affordability Act (S. 902 and H.R. 2126), which creates a Local Housing Policy Grant program to enact pro-housing policies at the local level.
• Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (S. 98 and H.R. 2143), which would offer tax credits to attract private investment for building and rehabilitating owner-occupied homes, creating a pathway to neighborhood stability through sustainable homeownership. The NHIA would expand homeownership opportunities and provide a powerful incentive to build and rehabilitate 500,000 homes for low- and moderate-income homeowners over the next decade.
• Greater Revitalization of Shopping Centers Act (H.R. 5041), which creates a grant within the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program to incentivize public and private investment in abandoned and underutilized shopping malls. The Section 108 Program provides communities with a source of low-cost, long-term financing for economic and community development projects, which has proven effective in drawing additional investments into projects.
• Revitalizing Downtowns Act (H.R. 4759 and S. 2511), which creates a Qualified Office Conversion Tax Credit to convert unused office buildings into residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties.

In addition, NAR supports legislation to encourage fair housing:

• Housing Fairness Act (s. 769 and H.R. 68), which would reauthorize and increase funding for HUD fair housing testing and enforcement programs.

Realtors® also presented members of Congress with supporting NAR research, including: Congressional District report, Double Trouble (Feb. 2022), Snapshot of Race in Housing (Feb. 2022), Analysis and Case Studies: Office-to-Housing Conversions and Case Studies in Repurposing Vacant Retail Malls.

To read more about NAR’s advocacy agenda, visit NAR.Realtor.