NAR in ‘solid financial position’ as membership beats forecasts 

The National Association of Realtors had more members and dues revenue than expected by the end of September, Treasurer Craig Sanford announced at the NAR board of directors meeting held Monday during the association's annual NAR NXT conference.

"Both membership dues and expenses are better than budgeted," Sanford said. "Our cash and investments remain strong, which allows us to meet upcoming settlement payments while still investing in products and services that deliver value to our members."

Before starting his update, Sanford told the directors that "the information I'm presenting today should be considered confidential and not be shared" — an atypical request made all the more unusual due to the presence of hundreds of non-directors in the room.

Membership total, revenue stronger than projected

NAR had 1,469,127 paid members at the end of Q3, which Sanford noted is 22% higher than the 1.2 million members NAR budgeted for this year and "only 1.5% lower than last year's paid membership." 

Sanford pegged total NAR revenue at the end of September at $252.3 million and recognized member dues revenue at $220 million. "We are also better than budget on expenses," he said. "Total expenses as of the end of September were $210.2 million, $7.4 million better than budgeted." The fourth quarter of 2026, however, will include significant expenses above average because of the election year

"Bottom line: We're in a solid financial position through September."

NAR has so far received $12.8 million for 63,882 paid memberships for 2027 — "in line with last year, and we do expect those numbers to increase throughout the fourth quarter," Sanford said.

NAR aspiring to be 'more financially disciplined'

The trade association's budget for 2027 is a continuation of "one of the greatest financial modernization and transformations in NAR's history," said Sanford, who emphasized that "we are minutes away from voting to extend our third consecutive balanced budget to the board of directors for approval."

But more work is needed. "We have to use what we've done as the foundation for a more financially disciplined NAR moving forward," Sanford said.

For its 2027 budget, NAR has incorporated zero-based budgeting rather than a traditional incremental budgeting approach. Budget owners "were asked to evaluate expenditures from the ground up, prioritize their initiatives, and identify success measures for each program," Sanford said.

"The result is a budget that is more intentional, more strategically aligned and better positioned to support NAR's mission while maintaining financial discipline."

Director questions provided budget info

Before the NAR Finance Committee's recommendation to adopt its proposed operating and advocacy budget for 2027 — consisting of about $280.17 million in gross revenue and roughly $246.95 million in gross expenses — moved forward, Christina Rice, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors' incoming 2027 president, asked why she and other directors had received "a summary" rather than "a full" detailed budget overview.

According to NAR VP of Finance Cary Doherty, the "materials were posted 30 days prior to this meeting in The Hub" and, while "different than they were last year," those materials "do represent the full budget in a different manner." The format changes were made to "make the materials easier to read and more transparent," Doherty added.

Though Rice expressed an appreciation for "the transparency intended," she voiced more concern about what she described as a lack of "detail to support the numbers that we had in prior years."

The budget ultimately passed with 834 votes in favor and 43 opposed.

Board OKs consumer advertising budget, capital expenditures

The board also overwhelmingly passed, with no discussion, a second Finance Committee recommendation for the 2027 consumer advertising campaign budget. After receiving a recommendation from the NAR Leadership Team, the committee had voted to take an additional $5 million from NAR reserves for the 2027 ad campaign, increasing the campaign's total budget to $17 million.

Real Estate News has asked NAR why this additional infusion was necessary and what it will be used for. This story will be updated if and when a response is received.

Lastly, the board overwhelmingly approved without discussion capital expenditures for 2027 of $2.42 million for technology and $3.06 million for building needs.

These three Finance Committee recommendations were the only ones that went up for board approval.