According to the form, less than $9 million of that revenue came from member dues, with the rest of it coming from investment income, which was up roughly $20 million annually.
The association’s net income was $10.7 million in 2024, down from $39 million a year prior, despite its total liabilities falling $5 million annually to $690 million, with $440 million of that being attributed to the settlement litigation.
NAR’s net assets at the end of 2024 came in at $387 million, up from $363 million a year ago. This total includes $199 million in “savings and temporary cash investments.” The trade association’s total assets, which includes land, buildings and equipment came in at $1.08 billion.
In an emailed statement, an NAR spokesperson wrote that due to the from only capturing 2024 data, it does not reflect the “significant progress” the trade group has made in “enhancing member value, modernizing the association, and strengthening fiscal discipline” in 2025.
Salaries for executives are high
As for salaries and executive expenses, which were a sticking point in NAR’s 2023 Form 990, there were just three executives whose compensation came in at over $1 million in 2024, one of whom was naturally NAR CEO Nykia Wright. While Wright joined the organization in late 2023, she was not named as permanent CEO until August 2024. For her work in 2024, Wright was paid just over $2.5 million, with $250,000 of that being designated as an incentive or bonus. In comparison, for Wright’s predecessor Bob Goldberg’s last full year as CEO in 2022, $642,000 of his total compensation of $2.6 million was designated as a bonus.
The other two NAR executives to make over $1 million in 2024, include Mark Birschbach, the senior vice president of strategic business innovation and technology, who made $1.2 million, and NAR’s chief advocacy office Shannon McGahn, who netted $1.1 million. Both McGahn and Birschbach also made over $1 million in 2023.
Kevin Sears, NAR’s 2025 president, who began his term prematurely in January 2024, was paid $357,000 for his service in 2024. In comparison, Leslie Rouda-Smith, NAR’s 2022 president and the last president to serve a full term prior to Sears, received $413,566 in 2023 as the association’s immediate past president.
Travel expenses, which were another sore spot on NAR’s 2023 Form 990, were down roughly $1.5 million from 2023 to $8 million.
Significant increase in public policy spend
With 2024 being a national election year, it comes as no surprise that NAR recorded a significant increase in public policy spending from 2023 to 2024, with spending jumping from $17 million to $48 million. Overall, NAR’s total lobbying and political expenditures came to $86 million.
As for legal expenses, despite all of the commission lawsuit settlement negotiations and hearings, NAR’s legal expenditures with Cooley LLP, its main legal representative, dropped from $12.4 million in 2023 to $5.6 million in 2024. Additionally, total outside legal expenditures dropped from $19.5 million to slightly less than $18 million.
NAR also spent quite a bit on communications and promotions in 2024, with media and communications firm Havas Media Group receiving nearly $43 million, however this is down roughly $10 million from 2023. The trade group also paid $7.9 million to Uncommon Creative Studio, which was responsible for NAR’s 2025 consumer ad campaign. In total, NAR spent $37 million on advertising and promotion, down from $39 million in 2023.
NAR also spent quite a bit on grants, paying out $24 million in 2024, up from $17 million in 2023. While the majority of these grants went to local Realtor associations, $6.6 million of that total went to the American Property Owner’s Alliance (APOA) up $2 million from 2023. The APOA is a non-profit controlled by NAR that contributes to political causes and organizations. In 2023, the non-profit was accused by The New York Times of funding conservative organizations unrelated to housing. In response, NAR said The Times’ findings about the APOA were “not only biased, but at times, factually incorrect.”
In early 2026, NAR will publish its new annual report showcasing information on 2025, as per its recently approved strategic plan.
“In an annual report we are publishing in the first quarter of 2026, we will transparently show the impact of our work to improve the association and its usefulness to members as well preview the steps we will take in 2026 to further improve how NAR operates and delivers for members moving forward,” said an NAR spokesperson.
The organization recently came under pressure from a broker working group for increased transparency related to its financials.
