NAR holds onto more than 1.5M members despite turbulent year
The National Association of Realtors reported having roughly 1.52 million members in December, despite growing pushback from agents and local associations.
Key points:
- NAR’s membership has remained relatively stable this year and has even grown since it dipped below the 1.5 million threshold in February.
- The New York and Virginia state associations lost the most agents, while California and Texas are both up by several thousand members each.
- However, there has been a wave of challenges to NAR’s mandatory membership requirements and traditional three-tier system from agents and others.
It's been a tough year for the National Association of Realtors, from its landmark settlement in the commissions suits to ongoing DOJ scrutiny and an industry-wide battle over Clear Cooperation — but NAR is ending 2024 on a strong note when it comes to its overall membership count.
NAR membership remains well above 1.5 million
According to the latest state association data, NAR reported having 1,523,695 total members in December. This figure is down by 2,900 agents from the prior month, but total membership is well above its low point in February, when numbers dipped below the 1.5 million threshold for the first time in nearly three years.
The powerful trade association saw a miniature swell in new members in the lead-up to the August deadline for the new industry practice changes, which some industry insiders believe was due to agents' desire to be exempt from further liability to copycat commissions suits. Despite the widely discussed speculation about agent attrition as a direct result of the settlement, NAR's agent count has remained largely stable in 2024.
The states where membership rose and fell
However, the numbers vary dramatically when looking at individual state association data.
Between April and December, membership declined by more than 1,000 in two states: New York State Association of Realtors lost over 1,500 members and the Virginia Association of Realtors lost just over 1,200. However, both figures represent a small fraction of the overall agent count of both associations — New York's association reported over 59,000 members in December and Virginia has over 33,000. By percentage, Utah had the biggest decline, seeing membership fall 3.9% between April and December, followed by Virginia at 3.5% and Indiana at 3%.
A handful of state associations saw membership grow 5% or more between April and December, including the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (4.9%), California Association of Realtors (5.5%), Georgia Association of Realtors (5.8%), Arkansas Association of Realtors (6.0%) and Washington Association of Realtors (6.4%).
In terms of sheer headcount, California added more than 10,000 agents between April and December while the Texas Association of Realtors saw a net gain of over 4,700 agents during the same period. Florida, Georgia and New Jersey rounded out the top five states with the biggest increases, adding a combined 7,543 members. All told, those five states accounted for nearly 85% of NAR's total membership gains.
Pushback on mandatory membership
As NAR leadership navigated the complex year, pressure continues to grow on the traditional three-tier system of Realtor membership.
Lawsuits challenging membership rules have been stacking up, including one from Michigan agents who argued that mandatory membership represents a violation against antitrust laws and another in Pennsylvania, which alleges that NAR's membership rules are monopolistic and perhaps even discriminatory. Just last week, a similar lawsuit was filed in Texas.
Some associations are also taking action: In September, the Alabama Association of Realtors formally asked NAR to make membership optional and to allow agents to "choose where they allocate their membership and dues dollars" among the local, state and national levels. And last month, Phoenix Realtors unveiled its "MLS Choice" program which offers MLS access to agents without requiring association membership.