CHICAGO (November 7, 2017) – (RealEstateRama) — The National Association of Realtors® kicks off its annual conference in Chicago today with a focus on education and opportunity. More than 20,000 Realtors® and guests from around the world are expected to attend the 2017 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, which runs through November 6 at McCormick Place convention center.
Chicago hosted NAR’s first ever annual conference in 1908, and this year marks the first time since 2001 that Realtors® will convene in the city for the meetings. The conference, themed “The Sky’s The Limit,” will feature more than 300 speakers at 100-plus conference sessions on a broad range of real estate issues, including brokerage management, innovation and business technology, affordability issues from inventory constraints, commercial markets, international real estate transactions, and tax reform’s potential impact on real estate.
“The conference provides a great opportunity to learn from and connect with other Realtors®, industry leaders and vendors from around the globe and to seek out information to better serve clients and grow their businesses,” said NAR President William E. Brown, a Realtor® from Alamo, California and founder of Investment Properties. “Realtors ® will also be preparing themselves for the next industry opportunities and challenges, especially as Congress looks to tackle tax reform; while Realtors® support tax reform, it cannot happen by hiking taxes on millions of homeowners.”
During the week, conference attendees will hear from industry and political thought leaders, including Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, who will share the latest outlook for residential and commercial real estate markets; National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz, Federal Housing Finance Agency Senior Economist William Doerner, U.C. Berkeley Hass Real Estate Group Chair Ken Rosen, MSNBC political analyst Steve Schmidt, and JLL Chief Economist Ryan Severino.
On Wednesday and Thursday, conference attendees will roll up their sleeves to lend a hand to Habitat for Humanity Chicago. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with colleagues from 60 countries around the world and attend 15-minute presentations from country representatives and other experts about doing business across borders at the Global Real Estate Pavilion in the expo hall.
The expo opens Friday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. and will feature more than 400 industry-leading companies showcasing the latest products and services from real estate software to home protection and warranties.
The conference will also include several celebrity guest appearances. On Saturday, Nov. 5, attendees will have the chance to meet 23-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps at the NAR booth in the trade expo and later that evening hear from him at the conference’s general session. Rock legend John Fogerty, leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, will perform at a special attendee concert on Sunday, Nov. 5.
On Monday, Nov. 6, NAR’s 2018 officers will be installed during the association’s Board of Directors meeting.
To stay connected with the conference, visit NAR’s 2017 Conference Live website at www.narconferencelive.com (link is external), follow the Twitter hashtag #narannual or find us @nardotrealtor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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Media Contact: Sara Wiskerchen 202-383-1013