Yesterday, the board of directors for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) approved a new policy dubbed the “Clear Cooperation Policy” which goes into effect January 1, 2020, and Multiple Listing Service’s (MLS) have until May 1, 2020, to adopt and implement.
While the vote by the board of directors, 729 in favor of it to 70 opposed, may not reflect it, there is a lot of controversy about this policy among real estate agents and brokers that are members of NAR. The two main changes this new policy bring about are that agents would be mandated to put, for all intents and purposes, 100% of their listings in the MLS system within one business-day of marketing the listing (marketing is defined to include putting a sign in the yard, telling someone about the listing, etc) and “MLS-exempt” listings will no longer be permitted.
Better for the consumer?
Proponents of the new NAR MLS policy say that this will be better for consumers by:
Making all available listings show in the MLS;
Giving more exposure to sellers of their listings by not permitting “MLS exempt”, “off-MLS”, “Coming Soon” or other marketing methods that may not include putting the listing in the MLS, or at least not initially;
Leveling the playing field, making all listings available to all consumers since listings could no longer be marketed through just social media, private networks, etc, but, instead, would be required to be put in the MLS;
Eliminating practices that may violate Fair Housing Laws by limiting what audience a particular listing is exposed to;
Opponents of the new NAR MLS policy argue that it is not better for consumers because:
It eliminates the opportunity for an experienced listing agent to determine, in cooperation with their seller client, the best means and methods to market their home to obtain maximum exposure and the highest price;
 Pre-marketing, such as a coming soon promotion on social media before the listing is ready to go in the MLS in an effort to generate buzz and hype over the listing, would be prohibited.  This is a method of marketing that, in our current low-inventory market, has been extremely effective in getting maximum exposure, and the highest price, for the seller.
Agents would not be permitted to quietly “test” the market to see how the listing, and/or it’s price, will be received by the market. Â This is often done by marketing the home before entry in the MLS to establish the right price. Â Once in the MLS, the days on market start working against the seller, as do price reductions, so coming into the MLS at the right price is essential for the seller.
It prevents a seller from using a REALTOR® when they wish to have their property marketed in a private manner and not publicly.  This happens often when the seller is a high-profile individual that for security and/or privacy reasons, does not want photos and details about their home (including that they are selling it) publicly known.  It can also occur in the case of a divorce, a distressed-type sale, etc;
Time will tell whether this proves to be good, or bad, for the industry and the consumer.
The impact of the strong economy the U.S. is currently experiencing can be seen in the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) 2018 Member Profile.  In the NAR report when agents were asked about the most important factor limiting potential home-buyer clients from completing a transaction, the answers given in the most recent survey show a strong improvement in economy-related issues from the 2015 survey. For example, below are some highlights from the survey for the most important factor limiting potential buyers in completing a transaction:
Difficulty in obtaining financing dropped from 26% in 2015 to just 12% in 2018
Low consumer confidence dropped from 5% in 2015 to just 1% in 2018
Ability to sell existing home dropped from 6% in 2015 to 3% in 2018.
St Louis Home sales rose in March to 2,397 homes sold, up from 1,817 homes sold in February and up 11.7 percent from a year ago when there were 2,145 homes sold. Â St Louis’ year-over-year increase in home sales in March actually topped the increase in US home sales for the month which rose 10.3 percent from the year before. Continue reading “St Louis Home Sales Up 11.7 Percent From Year Ago“
The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales report for November, 2012 shows home sales increased 1.7 percent in November from the month before and increased 9.8 percent from a year ago. Pending home sales have now increased on a year over year basis for 19 consecutive months, according to NAR.
The housing market showed more signs of strength in October with pending home sales hitting a five-year high, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales.  According to the report for October, 2012, pending home sales increased 5.2 percent from the month before and increased 13.2 percent from a year ago. Pending home sales have now increased on a year over year basis for 18 consecutive months, according to NAR.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) announced this morning that U.S. existing home sales increased in October falling 1.7 percent from the month before, a 2.1 percent increase from the month before and an increase of 10.9 percent from a year ago. The NAR report indicated the median home price in the U.S. in October was $178,300, an increase of 11.1 percent from a year ago. The St. Louis Real Estate market (the 5-county core St Louis Real Estate area I’m showing which includes the City of St Louis and the Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) saw home prices fall slightly (1.1 percent) in October from September to a median price of $120,000 which is an increase of 4.4 percent from a year ago. St Louis home sales, on the other hand, rose in October 6.6 percent from the month before to 2,607 homes, an increase of 18.9 percent from a year ago. If you would like to receive a free copy of the NAR home sales report please click here for immediate access. Continue reading “St Louis home prices up 4.4 percent in past year; St Louis home sales up almost 19 percent during same period“
Annually, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) conducts a survey of people that bought and/or sold a home in the past year to learn about their shopping habits, what motivated them to do what they did, etc. The NAR “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” for 2012 was just released and shows, among other things, that 90 percent of home buyers used the internet in finding the home they bought and, of those, about half used a local MLS site and/or agent/company site.
What’s the best local St Louis website for searching homes for sale? For it’s ease of use, accuracy of content and and relevant information, “one-click” searches and the fact a real, live, professional agent is nearly always ready to respond to questions, I would have to say StLouisRealEstateSearch.com*
Charlie Cook, of the Cook Report, a well-known and respected political commentator, cautioned REALTORS at their annual national convention to be prepared for changes to the mortgage interest deduction. According to an article in REALTOR magazine, Cook said he did not expect the mortgage interest deduction (MID) to specifically come under attack but that, as Congress looks at cuts to address the deficit, the MID “unlikely to escape unscathed. Cook went on to say that he felt the change would most likely be in the form of a cap, whether it be a dollar amount or a percent allowed for itemized deductions, but one way or another, it was going to change.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) announced this morning that U.S. existing home sales, and prices, slipped slightly in September, falling 1.7 percent from the month before however were up 11 and 11.3 percent, respectively, from the year before. The St. Louis Real Estate market, as the charts below show, we see slightly different data, at least for the 5-county core St Louis Real Estate area I’m showing (the City of St Louis and the Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin). In this core area, which makes up the bulk of the Saint Louis real estate market, home prices fell 7.6 percent in September, from the month before, to a median price of $121,884 and home sales slid over 20 percent to 2,428 homes sold in September, down from 3,045 in August.  On a year-over-year-basis, the St. Louis real estate market did better, with home prices increasing 4.6 percent from $116,500 in September 2011 to $121,884 in September 2012 and sales only slipping slightly from 2,439 homes sold in September 2011 to 2,428 homes sold in September 2012.  If you would like to receive a free copy of the NAR home sales report please click here for immediate access. Continue reading “St Louis home prices and sales decline in September; Prices up 4.6 percent in past year“
St. Louis home sales (the 5 county core market*) in August increased 2.4 percent from the month before and were up over 13 percent from a year ago (see chart below), following the trend in U.S. home sales as reported today in the existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS®.  According to the report, U.S. home sales in August increased 7.8 percent from July and were up 9.3 percent from the year before.
St. Louis home prices rose 2.7 percent in August from the month before and were up 6.8 percent from the year before falling a little short of U.S. home prices which increased 9.5 percent in August from the year before but still showing positive signs of recovery for the St. Louis housing market. Continue reading “St Louis home sales and prices showing signs of recovery“
This week the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) published a report which showed selling a home was taking less time with the median time a home for sale dropping in July to 69 days, down over 29 percent from a year ago when the median time on the market was 98 days. St. Louis homes are taking less time to sell as well and, as you can see from the tables below I prepared, many St Louis areas have a lower median time on the market for homes for sale than the national median. The inventory of St. Louis homes for sale is dropping as well…does this impact price? Read on.. Continue reading “St. Louis homes taking less time to sell; inventory low in many areas“
The National Association of REALTORS released its Pending Home Sales Index for June today showing a decrease of 1.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted) and a 9.5 percent increase from a year ago. However, here in the Midwest, the numbers are better with pending home sales decreasing just 0.4 percent from May, the smallest decrease for the month of all the regions, and Midwest pending home sales in June increased 17.3 percent from a year ago, which is the highest year-over-year increase of all regions in the U.S. Continue reading “U.S. Home Sales Slip In June; Midwest outperforms the rest of the country“
Yesterday’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in June were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.37 million units which is a decrease of 5.4 percent from the month before, and a 4.5 percent increase from the year before and is at the lowest level since October 2011. Continue reading “Home sales lose steam in June“
The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for May today showing an increase of 5.9 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), a 13.3 percent increase from a year ago and is now at the highest level it’s been since April 2010.
Highlights from the report for May, 2012:
The pending home sales index (seasonally adjusted) was 101.1 (the index is based upon 100.0 being equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001 which we could call the last “normal” year) which is a 5.9 percent increase from the month before and a 123.3 percent increase from a year ago.
Yesterday’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in May were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.55 million units which is a decrease of 1.5 percent from the month before, however, here in the Midwest we bucked the trend coming in with home sales at an annual rate of 1.04 million units, up 1.0 percent from the month before. The Midwest was the only region in May that saw an increase in the rate of home sales in May from the month before, all regions saw an increase from a year ago however.  Home prices in the Midwest didn’t fare as well as the rest of the country however, coming in at 147,700 which is an increase of 6.4 percent from a year ago, less than the 7.9 percent increase seen at the national level, however the month over month increase of 5.6 percent in the Midwest did top the 5.1 percent month over month increase at the national level. Continue reading “Midwest is only region with increased home sales in May“
Today’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in April were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.62 million units which is a increase of 3.4 percent from the month before and an increase of 10.0 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold in April was 400,000 which is an increase of 11.1 percent from the month before and an increase of 6.7 percent from a year ago when there were 375,000 homes sold. Continue reading “Existing home sales and prices increase in April; Housing recovery is underway“
The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for March today showing an increase of 4.1 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and an 12.8 percent increase from a year ago and is now at the highest level it’s been since April 2010.
Highlights from the report for March, 2012:
The pending home sales index (seasonally adjusted) was 101.4 (the index is based upon 100.0 being equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001 which we could call the last “normal” year) which is a 4.1 percent increase from the month before and an 12.8 percent increase from a year ago.
Today’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows U.S. existing home sales in March decreased 2.6 percent from the month before but the Midwest region saw sales activity remain steady coming in at the same rate as the month before. Here in St Louis the story is even better as home sales for the St Louis five-county core (City of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) increased 22.5 percent from the month before and increased 12.4 percent from a year ago. (not seasonally adjusted – see chart below).
A report just released by RadarLogic states the obvious by saying “housing is a buyer’s market” which, I think by now, we all know. However the report goes on to dig into the driving forces behind this buyer’s market and makes some interesting (and concerning) observations including the fact that, while the National Association of REALTOR’s (NAR) reported that the inventory of homes for sale in January dropped to 2.31 million homes (a 6.1 month supply and the lowest level since 2006) this does not take into account vacant homes that have been held off the market, homes that have delinquent mortgages on them and are headed to foreclosure or in the foreclosure process, nor homes with underwater mortgages. This is a large pool of homes that while they are not “on the market” now, a large percentage of them likely will be in the coming months and years thereby increasing the inventory of homes for sale. Continue reading “Report Says Realtors’ Existing Home Supply Understated by "Millions of Homes"“
The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for January today showing an increase of 2.0 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and an 8.0 percent increase from a year ago. This marks the highest level the pending home sales index has been at since April 2010 when it hit 111.3 as a result of buyers racing to buy before the homebuyer tax credit expired. Continue reading “Pending home sales index hits highest level since April 2010“
Today’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in January were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.57 million units which is an increase of 4.3 percent from the month before and an increase of 0.7 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold in January was 257,000 which is 26.4 percent less than the month before and 4.0 percent more than a year ago when there were 246,000 homes sold. Continue reading “Existing home sales and prices increase in January“
Today, Moe Veissi, President of the National Association of REALTORS, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s budget proposal: “As the leading advocate for housing and homeownership, NAR is strongly opposed to elements of President Obama’s budget proposal that would limit itemized deductions, including the mortgage interest deduction, for thousands of families.” Continue reading “REALTORS tell President Obama his budget proposal will harm housing and homeowners“
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for November shows an increase of 7.3 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 5.9 percent increase from a year ago. This is the second consecutive month that the index has increased and marks the highest level the index has achieved since April 2010 when it was at 111.5.
Today CNBC reported that the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), the country’s leading source of existing home sales data, will be revising their home sales numbers from 2007 through October of this year downward because of “double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought”. This is not a new thought though, as, back in February of this year, I reported that there was data to support that the National Association of REALTORS’ existing home sales was overstated by 15 percent to 20 percent. Continue reading “National Association of REALTORS says "Sales were weaker than people thought"“
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for October shows an increase of 10.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 9.2 percent increase from a year ago. This is the first time in four months that the index has increased and marks the highest level the index has achieved since April 2010 when it was at 110.9.
The median St. Louis metro home price in third quarter was $131,700, up 2.0 percent from 2nd quarter, but down 2.7 percent from a year ago, according to a report by the National Association of REALTORS. Home prices in the St. Louis metro area fared better during 3rd quarter than the U.S. as a whole which saw prices increase only .2 percent from the prior quarter and were down 4.7 percent from a year ago. Continue reading “St. Louis metro home prices increase in 3rd quarter but down from a year ago“
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for September shows a decrease of 4.6 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 6.4 percent increase from a year ago. This is the third consecutive month the index has decreased from the month before and, and the year over year numbers continue to show decline in the rate of improvement from last year. Continue reading “Home sales fall in September; third consecutive month of decline“
Today’s existing home salesreport from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in September were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.91 million units which is a decrease of 3.0 percent from the month before, an increase of 11.3 percent from a year ago and is the second highest rate of home sales since March 2011 when it was 5.09 million. Continue reading “Home sales and prices decline in September“
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The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales report for November, 2012 shows home sales increased 1.7 percent in November from the month before and increased 9.8 percent from a year ago. Pending home sales have now increased on a year over year basis for 19 consecutive months, according to NAR.
St. Louis home sales (the 5 county core market*) in August increased 2.4 percent from the month before and were up over 13 percent from a year ago (see chart below), following the trend in U.S. home sales as reported today in the existing home sales 
A report just released by RadarLogic states the obvious by saying “housing is a buyer’s market” which, I think by now, we all know. However the report goes on to dig into the driving forces behind this buyer’s market and makes some interesting (and concerning) observations including the fact that, while the National Association of REALTOR’s (NAR) reported that the inventory of homes for sale in January dropped to 2.31 million homes (a 6.1 month supply and the lowest level since 2006) this does not take into account vacant homes that have been held off the market, homes that have delinquent mortgages on them and are headed to foreclosure or in the foreclosure process, nor homes with underwater mortgages. This is a large pool of homes that while they are not “on the market” now, a large percentage of them likely will be in the coming months and years thereby increasing the inventory of homes for sale. 
The median St. Louis metro home price in third quarter was $131,700, up 2.0 percent from 2nd quarter, but down 2.7 percent from a year ago, according to a
