Report: Luxury Home Sales in Markets North of NYC Increased by Double Digits in the Third Quarter
The growing number of closed sales is concentrated in the lower end of the luxury market.
Every April, Realtors across the country commemorate the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. As real estate professionals, we not only have the opportunity, but the obligation to be a part of equitable and inclusive change.
At the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR), we are committed to diversifying our membership, creating a deeply diverse, equitable and inclusive organization for our members, and embedding inclusive practices into the way we work and learn with one another. These are not just our guiding principles for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), they are the core values that strengthen our commitment to professionalism and our Code of Ethics.
How can you advance these principles? The first step is by signing the Fair Housing Declaration (https://www.nar.realtor/fair-housing/fair-housing-declaration), which commits you to learning about and promoting fair housing initiatives. The second step is to take personal ownership of your education. That includes completing the Fair Housing Challenge, comprised of three components: 1) Fairhaven Simulation (https://www.nar.realtor/fair-housing/fairhaven), 2) Harvard Implicit Bias Test (https://edib.harvard.edu/implicit-association-test-iat), and 3) earning the At Home With Diversity certification from NAR (https://www.nar.realtor/education/designations-and-certifications/at-home-with-diversity-ahwd).
As NAR President Kenny Parcell explained, “Completing this Fair Housing Challenge helps us expand homeownership, property rights for all, and empower us to treat all consumers with the highest level of integrity and respect, honor the Fair Housing Act, and work to end housing discrimination one interaction at a time.”
Having completed the one-day At Home With Diversity course myself, I found the information invaluable. It is designed to enable you to work successfully with and within a rapidly changing multicultural market. It will help you to learn diversity sensitivity, how it applies to U.S. fair housing laws in your business, and ways to develop professional guidelines for working with people in the increasingly multicultural real estate market. The AHWD course offers six (6) CE credits and may also be used as an elective for both the ABR and the CIPS (global) designations.
As your 2023 HGAR President, I urge you to increase your professionalism now by taking the Fair Housing Challenge. You will be surprised at what you learn! Moreover, the Fairhaven Simulation and the Harvard Implicit Bias Test are both FREE.
The one-day At Home With Diversity designation course may cost up to $125, but scholarships are available through the New York State Real Estate Education Foundation, which aims to foster greater knowledge and professionalism among Realtors by providing scholarships for high-level, national designation courses. Any Realtor actively engaged in real estate, who holds primary Realtor membership in New York State, who has been licensed in New York State for at least one full year, and who has at least three closed transaction sides in the past year, is eligible to apply. To apply, visit https://nysreef.org/ and submit your application no later than the July 31, 2023, deadline.
So, please join me in completing HGAR’s Fair Housing Challenge because fair housing is for everyone. Your commitment to these guiding principles demonstrates not only your humanity but your integrity and professionalism. That is what being a Realtor is all about because “That’s Who We R!”
Tony D’Anzica is President of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors and is the founder and president of Dynamax Realty NYC in Manhattan.
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