Today; Part Three -  ”How the heck are we going to pay for this?”

Refinancing Plan Will Be Fully Paid For By a Portion of Fee on Largest Financial Institutions: The Administration estimates the cost of its refinancing plan will be in the range of $5 to $10 billion, depending on exact parameters and take-up. This cost will be fully offset by using a portion of the President’s proposed Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee, which imposes a fee on the largest financial institutions based on their size and the riskiness of their activities – ensuring that the program does not add a dime to the deficit

Fully Streamlining Refinancing for All GSE Borrowers: The Administration has worked with the FHFA to streamline the GSEs’ refinancing program for all responsible, current GSE borrowers. The FHFA has made important progress to-date, including eliminating the restriction on allowing deeply underwater borrowers to access refinancing, lowering fees associated with refinancing, and making it easier to access refinancing with lower closing costs.

To build on this progress, the Administration is calling on Congress to enact additional changes that will benefit homeowners and save taxpayers money by reducing the number of defaults on GSE loans. We believe these steps are within the existing authority of the FHFA. However, to date, the GSEs have not acted, so the Administration is calling on Congress to do what is in the taxpayer’s interest, by:

a. Eliminating appraisal costs for all borrowers: Borrowers who happen to live in communities without a significant number of recent home sales often have to get a manual appraisal to determine whether they are eligible for refinancing into a GSE guaranteed loan, even under the HARP program. Under the Administration’s proposal, the GSEs would be directed to use mark-to-market accounting or other alternatives to manual appraisals for any loans for which the loan-to-value cannot be determined with the GSE’s Automated Valuation Model. This will eliminate a significant barrier that will reduce cost and time for borrowers and lenders alike.

b. Increasing competition so borrowers get the best possible deal: Today, lenders looking to compete with the current servicer of a borrower’s loan for that borrower’s refinancing business continue to face barriers to participating in HARP. This lack of competition means higher prices and less favorable terms for the borrower. The President’s legislative plan would direct the GSEs to require the same streamlined underwriting for new servicers as they do for current servicers, leveling the playing field and unlocking competition between banks for borrowers’ business.

c. Extending streamlined refinancing for all GSE borrowers: The President’s plan would extend these steps to streamline refinancing for homeowners to all GSE borrowers. Those who have significant equity in their home – and thus present less credit risk – should benefit fully from all streamlining, including lower fees and fewer barriers. This will allow more borrowers to take advantage of a program that provides streamlined, low-cost access to today’s low interest rates – and make it easier and more automatic for servicers to market and promote this program for all GSE borrowers.

Giving Borrowers the Chance to Rebuild Equity in their Homes Through Refinancing: All underwater borrowers who decide to participate in either HARP or the refinancing program through the FHA outlined above will have a choice: they can take the benefit of the reduced interest rate in the form of lower monthly payments, or they can apply that savings to rebuilding equity in their homes. The latter course, when combined with a shorter loan term of 20 years, will give the majority of underwater borrowers the chance to get back above water within five years, or less.

To encourage borrowers to make the decision to rebuild equity in their homes, we are proposing that the legislation provide for the GSEs and FHA to cover the closing costs of borrowers who chose this option – a benefit averaging about $3,000 per homeowner. To be eligible, a participant in either program must agree to refinance into a loan with a no more than 20 year term with monthly payments roughly equal to those they make under their current loan. For those who agree to these terms, the lender will receive payment for all closing costs directly from the GSEs or the FHA, depending on the entity involved.

EXAMPLE: How Rebuilding Equity Can Benefit a Borrower

 A borrower has a 6.5 percent $214,000 30-year mortgage originated in 2006. It now has an outstanding balance of $200,000, but the house is worth $160,000 (a loan-to-value ratio of 125). The monthly payment on this mortgage is $1,350.

 While this borrower is responsibly paying her monthly mortgage, she is locked out of refinancing.

 By refinancing into a 4.25 percent 30-year mortgage loan, this borrower will reduce her monthly payment by $370. However, after five years her mortgage balance will remain at $182,000.

 Under the rebuilding equity program, the borrower would refinance into a 20-year mortgage at 3.75 percent and commit her monthly savings to paying down principal. After five years, her mortgage balance would decline to $152,000, bringing the borrower above water.

 If the borrower took this option, the GSEs or FHA would also cover her closing costs –potentially saving her about $3,000.

Streamlined Refinancing for Rural America: The Agriculture Department, which supports mortgage financing for thousands of rural families a year, is taking steps to further streamline its USDA-to-USDA refinancing program. This program is designed to provide those who currently have loans insured by the Department of Agriculture with a low-cost, streamlined process for refinancing into today’s low rates. The Administration is announcing that the Agriculture Department will further streamline this program by eliminating the requirement for a new appraisal, a new credit report and other documentation normally required in a refinancing. To be eligible, a borrower need only demonstrate that he or she has been current on their loan.

Streamlined Refinancing for FHA Borrowers: Like the Agriculture Department, the Federal Housing Authority is taking steps to make it easier for borrowers with loans insured by their agency to obtain access to low-cost, streamlined refinancing. The current FHA-to-FHA streamlined refinance program allows FHA borrowers who are current on their mortgage to refinance into a new FHA-insured loan at today’s lower interest rates without requiring a full re-underwrite of the loan, thereby providing a simple way for borrowers to reduce their mortgage payments.

However, some borrowers who would be eligible for low-cost refinancing through this program are being denied by lenders reticent to make loans that may compromise their status as FHA-approved lenders. To resolve this issue, the FHA is removing these loans from their “Compare Ratio”, the process by which the performance of these lenders is reviewed. This will open the program up to many more families with FHA-insured loans.

Up Next:  “Homeowner Bill of Rights”…when we start fighting back.     

Historically, January sales are the lowest of the year. January sales decreased by 100 units from December; down 20%. In the previous two years the drop off in sales from December to January was more than 200 units…this suggests a stronger than normal fist month of the year.

Of our total sales in January… 53% were distressed….up 6% from December 2011, but down from the two previous years. In January 2011, 57% of our sales were distressed. We have seen a mild overall increase in the percentage of sales in distress. In July we were down to 42% overall and have seen the amount increase one to two points each month. Few days from last month. Down from 94 days last year.

Pending sales at the end of January were 856; an increase of 25% from the end of December. In general pending sales increase in January compared to December. The percentage of pending sales in distress decreased 2% from December, totaling 47% overall. We are now at nine consecutive months below 50%.

At the end of January, we had 18% more sales pending than at the end of January 2011.

January median home price was 139,000; up 2.6% from January 2011.

New Homes median price for January was $209,000; a decrease of 1% from January 2011.

The number of houses available continues to decrease. At the end of January our total active inventory was 1,947 homes. This is down 3% from December and 29% less than last year at this time.

At the same time, the percentage of distressed active inventory dipped 1% to 35%. We have been hovering between 33% and 36% since May. We remain well below the 40% levels set last spring….when we were on the increase.

In Ada County we have 4.5 months of inventory on hand…historically this number defines a strong “seller’s market”. The price category in shortest supply is <$119,000 with 2.5 months. In the range of $120,000 to $159,999 we have 4.2 months. All price points up to $200,000 have less than 5 months supply. We have benefited all year from inventory levels much lower than national average. Now, however, we are starting to see some slowdown in sales as the inventory continues to fall.

Based on January sold data, our most desirable price point is $120,000 to $160,000 which made up more than 20% of total sales.

There is no longer any doubt that, in Ada County, we have passed our “low water” point.

The challenge to our continued recovery is available product.

At Mike Turner’s Real Estate Summit last week, Mike had some compelling data showing how 2012 is going to be a strong year for real estate in Ada County.

We also have several new developments regarding Federal policies addressing home ownership (HAPR 2 and HARP 3) and a big announcement about a settlement between banks and States Attorneys General over their foreclosure practices.

So now what…?  Will loads of new foreclosures flood our inventory… doubtful.  There will be an increase, but we need all of the inventory we can get.

This week B of A started sending messages out to customers inquiring about how to apply for refi under Harp2.  ”We’ll get back to you in 90 days” is what several people received.

We also see that several States Attorneys General have reached a settlement with the banks over foreclosure practices.  Will this speed up foreclosures and flood the market with new REO’s or will our paltry inventory get a needed boost from the freeing up of some of the clogged pipeline? We’re going to find out really soon.

Today; Part Two –  ”Broad Based Refinancing Plan”

Millions of homeowners who are current on their mortgages and could benefit from today’s low interest rates face substantial barriers to refinancing through no fault of their own. Sometimes homeowners with good credit and clean payment histories are rejected because their mortgages are underwater. In other cases, they are rejected because the banks are worried that they will be left taking losses, even where Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac insure these new mortgages. In the end, these responsible homeowners are stuck paying higher interest rates, costing them thousands of dollars a year.

 
To address this challenge, the President worked with housing regulators this fall to take action without Congress to make millions of Americans eligible for lower interest rates. However, there are still millions of responsible Americans who continue to face steep barriers to low-cost, streamlined refinancing. So the President is now calling on Congress to open up opportunities to refinancing for responsible borrowers who are current on their payments.

 
Under the proposal, borrowers with loans insured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (i.e. GSE-insured loans) will have access to streamlined refinancing through the GSEs. Borrowers with standard non-GSE loans will have access to refinancing through a new program run through the FHA. For responsible borrowers, there will be no more barriers and no more excuses.

 
Key components of the President’s plan include:

• Providing Non-GSE Borrowers Access to Simple, Low-Cost Refinancing: President Obama is calling on Congress to pass legislation to establish a streamlined refinancing program. The refinancing program will be open to all non-GSE borrowers with standard (non-jumbo) loans who have been keeping up with their mortgage payments. The program will be operated through the FHA.

Simple and straightforward eligibility criteria - Any borrower with a loan that is not currently guaranteed by the GSEs can qualify if they meet the following criteria:

• They are current on their mortgage: Borrowers will need to have been current on their loan for the past 6 months and have missed no more than one payment in the 6 months prior.
• They meet a minimum credit score. Borrowers must have a current FICO score of 580 to be eligible. Approximately 9 in 10 borrowers have a credit score adequate to meet that requirement.
• They have a loan that is no larger than the current FHA conforming loan limits in their area: Currently, FHA limits vary geographically with the median area home price – set at $271,050 in lowest cost areas and as high as $729,750 in the highest cost areas
• The loan they are refinancing is for a single family, owner-occupied principal residence. This will ensure that the program is focused on responsible homeowners trying to stay in their homes.

Streamlined application process: Borrowers will apply through a streamlined process designed to make it simpler and less expensive for borrowers and lenders to refinance. Borrowers will not be required to submit a new appraisal or tax return. To determine a borrower’s eligibility, a lender need only confirm that the borrower is employed. (Those who are not employed may still be eligible if they meet the other requirements and present limited credit risk. However, a lender will need to perform a full underwriting of these borrowers to determine whether they are a good fit for the program.)

Program parameters to reduce program cost: The President’s plan includes additional steps to reduce program costs, including:

• Establishing loan-to-value limits for these loans. The Administration will work with Congress to establish risk-mitigation measures which could include requiring lenders interested in refinancing deeply underwater loans (e.g. greater than 140 LTV) to write down the balance of these loans before they qualify. This would reduce the risk associated with the program and relieve the strain of negative equity on the borrower.
• Creating a separate fund for new streamlined refinancing program. This will help the FHA better track and manage the risk involved and ensure that it has no effect on the operation of the existing Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) fund.

EXAMPLE:  How Refinancing Can Benefit a Borrower With a Non-GSE Loan
 A borrower has a non-GSE mortgage originated in 2005 with a 6 percent rate and an initial balance of $300,000 – resulting in monthly payments of about $1,800.
 The outstanding balance is now about $272,000 and the borrower’s home is now worth $225,000, leaving the borrower underwater (with a loan-to-value ratio of about 120%).
 Though the borrower has been paying his mortgage on time, he cannot refinance at today’s historically low rates.
 Under the President’s legislative plan, the borrower would be eligible to refinance into a 4.25% percent 30-year loan, which would reduce monthly payments by about $460 a month.

Coming Next “How the heck are we going to pay for this?”

NAR has distributed a detailed analysis of the “Blueprint for an America Built to Last”…its ten pages long!!! Ugh.

That’s way too much to send you all at once, so today we offer the installment version.  Over the next week, we’ll send out smaller bites of the plan.  By the end of the series, we’ll all understand it.

Today; Part One – “Key Aspects of the President’s Plan”….

Broad Based Refinancing to Help Responsible Borrowers Save an Average of $3,000 per Year: The President’s plan will provide borrowers who are current on their payments with an opportunity to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates, cutting through the red tape that prevents these borrowers from saving hundreds of dollars a month and thousands of dollars a year. This plan, which is paid for by a financial fee so that it does not add a dime to the deficit, will:
o Provide access to refinancing for all non-GSE borrowers who are current on their payments and meet a set of simple criteria.

o Streamline the refinancing process for all GSE borrowers who are current on their loans.

o Give borrowers the chance to rebuild equity through refinancing.

Homeowner Bill of Rights: The President is putting forward a single set of standards to make sure borrowers and lenders play by the same rules, including:

o Access to a simple mortgage disclosure form, so borrowers understand the loans they are taking out.
o Full disclosure of fees and penalties.
o Guidelines to prevent conflicts of interest that end up hurting homeowners.
o Support to keep responsible families in their homes and out of foreclosure.
o Protection for families against inappropriate foreclosure, including right of appeal.

First Pilot Sale to Transition Foreclosed Property into Rental Housing to Help Stabilize Neighborhoods and Improve Home Prices: The FHFA, in conjunction with Treasury and HUD, is announcing a pilot sale of foreclosed properties to be transitioned into rental housing.

Moving the Market to Provide a Full Year of Forbearance for Borrowers Looking for Work: Following the Administration’s lead, major banks and the GSEs are now providing up to 12 months of forbearance to unemployed borrowers.

Pursuing a Joint Investigation into Mortgage Origination and Servicing Abuses: This effort marshals new resources to investigate misconduct that contributed to the financial crisis under the leadership of federal and state co-chairs.

Rehabilitating Neighborhoods and Reducing Foreclosures: In addition to the steps outlined above, the Administration is expanding eligibility for HAMP to reduce additional foreclosures, increasing incentives for modifications that help borrowers rebuild equity, and is proposing to put people back to work rehabilitating neighborhoods through Project Rebuild.

Coming Next - “Broad Based Refinancing Plan”

“As the nation’s leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, NAR knows that stabilizing the housing market is key to the health of our economy and communities across the country,” said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. “We are pleased that the President released a plan to help America’s struggling housing market and homeowners. Improving access to simple, low-cost refinancing and streamlining the process will help hardworking families who have stayed current on their mortgage payments and will go a long way to helping keep more families in their homes.”

President Obama’s plan would help eligible, underwater homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments to refinance or modify their loan into safer, more affordable mortgages and take advantage of historically low interest rates, helping homeowners save hundreds of dollars each month and reduce default rates.

“Realtors^® are eager to work with Congress and the administration to put the plan into action and help significantly reduce monthly mortgage payments by reducing the barriers to low-cost, streamlined refinancings for millions of homeowners as an alternative to defaulting on their mortgage loans, and begin stabilizing the housing market by reducing additional foreclosures,” said Veissi. “We hope that the president and Congress will work together to pass the necessary legislation. Now is the time to work together and look for new ways to help struggling homeowners and the housing market.”

The president’s plan also announced a Federal Housing Finance Administration pilot program to transition Real Estate Owned (REO) properties into rental housing. NAR urges the FHFA to proceed cautiously with the REO-to-rental program since housing markets are complex and varied. NAR believes an overly aggressive REO-to-rental program that is not privately administered by local entities and does not involve substantial participation of local market experts, especially licensed real estate professionals, could be disruptive and counterproductive to communities already suffering from high foreclosure inventories and lower housing values.

The National Association of Realtors, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

I received this letter from BVEP’s Executive Director, Clark Krause earlier today. It dawned on me that between us (all 3,000 of us) we could come up with some pretty compelling reasons for this potential employer to move here….

Please copy me at marc@myacaronline.com on anything you send.

Boise Valley Economic Partnership (BVEP) Requests Your Help

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is looking to create two new satellite offices with up to 100 initial high-paying federal jobs and the Boise Metro has been listed as a potential location.  While BVEP and the Idaho Department of Commerce are working to create a detailed proposal letter, the Patent Office is also accepting public commentsuntil Monday, January 30^th about potential locations for additional USPTO satellite offices.

We would like your help posting up the reasons the Boise Valley is a great place for business.

The following links provide additional details, including the criteria the USPTO will consider in evaluating possible locations:
http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2011/11-69.jsp
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-11-29/html/2011-30717.htm

Some suggestions of what to include in your comment:

• Boise’s high level of innovation activity, measured by patent filings and grants (http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cls_cbsa/allcbsa_gd.htm);
• Boise’s high quality of life, measured by cost of living factors and high employee retention rates;
• Boise’s proven ability to recruit and retain science and technology professionals;
• Boise’s central location in the northwest region relative to other cities of high innovation activity, such as San Jose, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Boulder, and Salt Lake City
• Any other personal or business reason you feel would make a compelling addition

I would encourage everyone to consider submitting a statement of support for a USPTO satellite office in Boise, either personally or on behalf of your organization (or both). Comments must be submitted to satelliteoffices@uspto.gov by next Monday, January 30. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments (208) 472-5229.

Clark Krause
Boise Valley Economic Partnership

Total sales for 2011 are 6,299; up 7% over 2010. In July of 2011, we exceeded YTD 2010 sales for the first time in 2011. This is our first year-over-year increase, without influence of the home buyer tax credit, in a few years.  This is our first time crossing the 6,000 homes sold threshold since 2007…how long ago that seems!

December sales decreased 3% from November’s 487. Historically, December sales decrease from November.

Of our total sales in December… 48% were distressed….up 1% from November 2011. In January 2011, 57% of our sales were distressed. We have seen a mild overall increase in the percentage of sales in distress. In July we were down to 42% overall and have seen the amount increase one to two points each month.

For homes sold in December, the average number of “Days on Market” was 86. This is essentially unchanged from last month. Down from 90 days last year this time and down from 93 days in January 2011.

Pending sales at the end of December were 691; a decrease of 7.5% from the end of November. This represents the smallest number of pendings in 2011. That is fairly consistent with historical data.  The percentage of pending sales in distress increased 1% from November, totaling 49% overall. This is the highest number of pending sales in distress we’ve had since early spring. Even so, we are now at eight consecutive months below 50%.

At the end of December, we had 20% more sales pending than at the end of December 2010.

December median home price held at November levels. Overall median price was $149,300; up 1.2% from December 2010. For all of 2011 our median was down 6.97%.  That is a significant improvement from where we were in January 2011: down 20%.

New Homes median price for December 2011 was $223,739; an 24% increase from December 2010. Year-to-date new homes median is up 15% over 2010 to $237,500.

The number of houses available continues to decrease. At the end of December our total active inventory was 1,991 homes. This is down 9% from November and 25% less than last year at this time. Our inventory has fallen below where we would call the market “in equilibrium”.  We are now in a “shortage”.

At the same time, the percentage of distressed active inventory held steady at 36%. We have been hovering between 33% and 36% since May. We remain well below the 40% levels set last spring….when we were on the increase.

In Ada County we have 4.2 months of inventory on hand…historically this number defines a strong “seller’s market”. The price category in shortest supply is <$119,000 with 2.5 months. In the range of $120,000 to $159,999 we have 3.9 months. All price points up to $400,000 have less than 5 moths supply. We have benefited all year from inventory levels much lower than national average. now, however, we are starting to see some slowdown in sales as the inventory continues to fall.

Based on December sold data, our most desirable price point is $120,000 to $160,000 which made up more than 20% of total sales.

There is no longer any doubt that, in Ada County, we have passed our “low water” point. 

The challenge to our continued recovery is available product.

Talking with our 2012 President, Kit Fitzgerald, we don’t see new homes construction being able to keep up with the demand, especially as we move toward Spring.

Financing for builders is still extremely difficult to come by.  In Kits words: “Without sticks in the ground, there is no excitement. Without excitement there is no sales growth.”

Sure, we will see median price increase over the next months, but when we get to April and the pent up demand comes roaring out of winter hibernation…then what?

Another thing I learned from Kit…the desires of new home buyers have changed…about the lots they want to build on.  Gone are the days when .13 acre was an acceptable lot size.  Buyers now want .25 or more….and there’s very few of those anywhere in Ada County.

Its going to be an interesting Spring.

If I was listing and selling I’d be brushing up on my multiple offer negotiation skills and brush off those old escalation clauses….who would’ve thought?

I called a friend at NAR earlier this week.  Frederik Heller is an archivist with NAR’s library and has been working on a project to record the contributions of REALTORS® to American history.

I told him I wanted to add something special to my end of year retrospective and asked if he could send me “a couple of anecdotes that I could include”….Boy did I get more than I expected.

Here then, courtesy of Frederik, a look back at the role we’ve played…enjoy.

1908: NAR’s first political act was taken on May 13, 1908, one day after the association had been created.   The members of the newly-formed organization passed & sent to the White House a resolution expressing support for President Theodore Roosevelt’s environmental conservation measures:

“…We view with dismay and alarm the present needless waste of our natural resources.  We are also displeased with the unnecessary slowness with which our legislators grasp the great importance of the development of our waterways and harbors. We are pleased and delighted with the broad view and the comprehensive grasp of these matters with which our President in endowed….  Resolved, that the members of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, without regard to party affiliations, do pledge to our President, our Governors and legislators, our hearty and unqualified support, and we do urge and entreat our representatives to do all in their power to speedily bring about such legislation as will conserve our resources, develop our waterways, and improve our harbors.”

1912: Nathan William MacChesney, NAR’s general counsel from 1908-1942, wrote the first model real estate license law, which was eventually (beginning in 1919) adopted by nearly all of the state legislatures.

1912: Three NAR members, all from Winnipeg, perish in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

1917: The association offers the services of its members to the federal government for the purposes of procuring land for the war effort. President Woodrow Wilson later sent a letter to NAR thanking Realtors for their services to the country.

1930: Real estate associations around the country organize special divisions to work towards establishing fairer property tax laws.

1931:  NAR published an article in the Magazine of Wall Street calling for the creation of a central mortgage bank to help stabilize long-term mortgage credit.  The idea caught the attention of President Hoover and eventually went on to become the Federal Home Loan Bank Law of 1932, creating the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

1934:  The NAR-backed Federal Housing Administration is created.

1938:  NAR lobbies Congress to pass amendments to the Federal Housing Act of 1934, creating the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and ensure a steady flow of low-cost funds for mortgage lending.

1945:  By the end of World War II, 1,143 Realtors had served in the armed forces and 19 died while in military service.

1952:  NAR establishes the Build America Better program to help revitalize depressed urban neighborhoods.

1953:  Ronald Chinnock, NAR president in 1954, establishes a committee within NAR to assist cities in preparing for the hydrogen bomb.

1961:  As the Berlin Wall is being built, NAR sends a call to action to its 70,000 members to contact the government expressing their support to “help our President act in confidence to ‘Break Down the Wall.’”

1965:  NAR President Maurice Read speaks out on the beginnings of a new problem affecting many areas, urban sprawl.

1975:  President Art Leitch and other NAR leaders work with HUD officials to clarify REALTORS’ responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.

1976:  In honor of the U.S. bicentennial, NAR leaders present an original painting of Uncle Sam to President Ford for exhibition at the Smithsonian.

1977:  During the national energy crisis, NAR begins a program to promote energy conservation in the home.

1989:  NAR begins lobbying state legislatures to establish seller disclosure and agency disclosure laws.

1999:  ”Within These Walls,” an exhibition on the history of housing at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is sponsored by NAR.

2001:  Within 48 hours of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, NAR establishes the Housing Relief Fund, which raises and distributes over $8 million to assist with housing costs for families of the victims.

2004:  NAR opens its new Washington building, the first newly constructed, LEED-certified green building in the capital city.

2006:  15 months after Hurricane Katrina, NAR holds its annual conference in New Orleans, where thousands of REALTORS take part in rebuilding projects around the city.

…and my own postscript…

2011:  NAR redefines its mission…”We will save housing and homeownership in America”.

Happy New Year!