NAR ‘shouldn’t be competing with members,’ Hoby Hanna says 

As residential real estate continues grappling with regulatory change, inventory constraints and shifting power dynamics, Howard Hanna CEO Howard "Hoby" Hanna IV believes the industry's next phase will be focused on who controls data, listings and consumer relationships. 

During a recent interview with Real Estate News, Hanna shared his candid view of the National Association of Realtors, outlined his expectations for the 2026 housing market and hinted at a new approach his company is developing around the ownership and marketing of home listings. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Part 1, which focused on consolidation and the Compass-Anywhere merger, can be found here.

What's your general sense of where NAR stands now and where it's heading?

My opinion on NAR is that it should focus on advocacy for the housing industry — that's what it was created to do. But it shouldn't be competing with its members for goods, products and services. Let the brokers and the companies that do that work do it. Don't have a trade association doing that.

I believe they should look at their governance and the mistakes they've made. They should get out of telling people how to operate a business.

It should even go as far as giving more choice. Not mandating that, if a broker isn't a member, or everybody in your company isn't a member, that others can't be a member. I just think they've — many times — caused more harm than good.

That's not against the people that volunteer and put their time there. I just think there's been a history of some real mistakes that have been against the independent creative broker — and we get dragged in with some of the decisions they make.

I think NAR is going to have to change. I don't think their strategic plan is enough. I even think their strategic plan — coming out and saying they're going to offer technology and marketing and website services for agents — that's what we as brokers already do.

You've talked about the importance of staying disciplined with M&As. How are things going since Howard Hanna's expansion into Manhattan last fall?

It's been great. We've had very little agent breakage. We've recruited some really fantastic associates to come on board. We're seeing referral income start to come into play.

We have a bunch of opportunities with some other smaller brokerage firms that we're talking to, and some other agents. Manhattan is a big market with lots of competition and lots of challenges, but we've got some real irons in the fire that we think in January we're going to see some real momentum.

What are your expectations for 2026 — both for your brokerage footprint and the market as a whole?

I think what we're seeing is a trend line that continues in the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast and the Midwest. We're still seeing a challenge in inventory — and that lack of supply creates pressure that continues to push prices up.

I think we'll see sale prices continue to increase. We're forecasting, probably across most of our footprint, maybe another 3-6% in average sales price. Across the whole market, one way it looks right now might be a 1-2% increase in units, just because there's nothing spurring that.

Having Fannie and Freddie buy back bonds last week — if that's sustainable to keep rates in the high fives and below six, we think that frees up a new segment of the market. 

Then you watch things like the institutional housing situation. In markets like Indianapolis and Columbus, there are a lot of homes owned by institutional owners. You hear headlines about requiring them to sell. I'm not sure I actually believe that will happen. It's a nice headline.

I think if the government wanted to be creative, they could look at capital gains tax relief for small investor owners to incentivize sales to people who want to live in those homes or to first-time buyers.

You've previously championed the theme of taking more control over listings. You also mentioned that you're working on something around listings and distribution. Can you expand on that?

When you go back to inventory, and you go back to this conversation about Clear Cooperation and how listing companies become creative and strategic to maximize value for the seller, so much of it has to do with the distribution method of the listing.

I'm not talking about pocket and exclusive listings — I'm talking about old-fashioned marketers who create a wave of energy that services the client base. Buyers and buyer agents sign a contract with a broker to help them find a home, but there's value in knowing about homes quicker in a neighborhood — whether it's Chicago, Cleveland or Pittsburgh. There's value to the knowledge of the agent and the brokerage firm, not just selling a lead.

When you look at a lot of the reports recently with Zillow — and you look at those arguments — part of what's changing is that listing brokerage firms are going to have to create the ability to distribute their inventory.

I hate to use the word "control" because that's not what I'm talking about. But the ability for the listing agent to sit at the kitchen table and say, "Here's my marketing strategy," and believe that strategy maximizes getting their home sold — not just because it's on Zillow or Realtor.com.

A big change is coming in the next quarter where that sharing of information — that distribution, that ability for clients to find something first — is going to change how the process works. It's going to benefit the listing brokerage, and it's going to cause listing firms to be even more at the center of the transaction in a tight inventory market.

We're focusing on how we do that — servicing clients and customers while cooperating with others — but having a true come-to-market strategy that maximizes price, minimizes days on market, gets homes sold faster to a broader audience and supports both sellers and buyers.

There are ways — using technology, market knowledge and local Realtors who know their consumers — to make that difference.