August 23 2024
Public Policy Update
Hello everyone. Your public policy team is in Orlando this week for Florida Realtors Annual Convention & Trade Expo, and it’s been great seeing and connecting with so many of you.
We had a really fascinating Realtor Party Town Hall this morning featuring two former presidential advisors in Karl Rove and David Plouffe. The town hall was live streamed, so if you were not here in attendance, I hope you had a chance to tune in online. Rove has some uncannily accurate impersonations and both speakers shared some really powerful stories and insights into their time serving presidents Bush and Obama, respectively.
From there the public policy team facilitated an in-person legislative think tank meeting as well as a think tank leadership meeting. The purpose of these two meetings was to get everything set for our big policy meeting this week – the Public Policy Committee meeting.
The Public Policy Committee meeting will take place from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. It is a hybrid meeting so if you cannot attend in person then you can watch the meeting via the public Zoom. The link for that can be found here.
I’d highly encourage you to listen in if possible as we have a packed agenda that will be filled with lots of great information. For starters, we have several research reports to cover. One is on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), another is on local property taxes and school revenue, and our last one is on Single Member Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) and their liability protections in Florida. We will also have a legal update that will focus on the NAR settlement and the practice changes that recently went into effect.
It's going to be a busy morning filled with lots of great discussion, so I hope you are able to catch some of it.
NAR Practice Changes Began Saturday
By now, members have experienced changes to the way they do business as a result of the NAR settlement in the Sitzer-Burnett lawsuit. Changes went into effect on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Specifically:
- Offers of compensation are prohibited on Multiple Listing Services (MLSs). Offers of compensation will continue to be an option consumers can pursue off-MLS through negotiation and consultation with real estate professionals.
- Agents working with a buyer must enter into a written buyer agreement before the buyer can tour a home. The practice changes do not require an agency agreement or dictate any type of relationship.
Florida Realtors® has created or revised forms and contracts to assist members in complying with the settlement terms. All forms are available on Form Simplicity. Visit the NAR Settlement Resource Guide for previews and redlines.
Other useful Florida Realtors resources – webinars, news articles, infographics, videos, social media posts and more – are also available online.
As always, the Florida Realtors Legal Hotline is available weekdays to answer your questions at 407-438-1409. Questions may also be submitted online any time by clicking here.
Nykia Wright Named Permanent NAR CEO
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has named Nykia Wright its permanent chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Wright, an executive with vast experience driving organizational transformation, has served in the interim CEO role since November 2023.
“I am thrilled Nykia is staying on board to lead us through this time of transformation,” said 2024 NAR President Kevin Sears, broker-associate of Sears Real Estate/Lamacchia Realty in Springfield, Mass. “She has been instrumental in leading us up to this point, and her unwavering commitment to our members make her the ideal steward for guiding our association through the evolving real estate landscape."
During her initial tenure, Wright shepherded the association in early 2024 through negotiations to settle and resolve claims brought on behalf of home sellers related to broker commissions. She also is guiding the implementation of NAR’s Culture Transformation Commission – a group of more than 70 members, including state and local association staff and NAR staff selected through a collaborative process – which was established to identify and break down impediments to being an inclusive, welcoming and respectful organization for all individuals and to ensure that the association meets the evolving needs of members well into the future.
Under Wright’s leadership, NAR is sharpening its focus on its core mission of serving members, communicating more deliberately, and working to become a more agile organization. Among her immediate priorities will be to continue guiding NAR past the implementation of the proposed settlement practice changes and prioritizing ongoing education, training and compliance for consumers and agents.
Read the full article here.
Vacation Rental Industry Lobbying Steps Up
Groups are stepping forward to stop restrictions on short-term rentals. In June, Gov. DeSantis vetoed a vacation rental bill, action Florida Realtors supported.
The vacation rental industry has stepped up efforts to influence U.S. lawmakers to keep more cities from enacting restrictions on short-term rentals in response to concerns about housing availability and quality of life.
Growth in short-term rental supply has slowed in 17 of North America's largest 30 cities in 2024, according to KeyData, a vacation rental analytics firm. In response, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group's VRBO, and smaller operators are spending more on lobbying to head off local restrictions that limit supply.
Numerous cities around North America, including New York, Los Angeles and Montreal, have curbed the growth of rental properties, responding to complaints from residents who say short-term rentals make housing less affordable and hurt the quality of neighborhood life.
Read the full story here.
Florida Wages Soar, Among Top Gains Since 2019
The typical U.S. worker’s pay is about the same as it was in late 2019, after accounting for inflation. But workers in some states have seen sharply higher earnings, especially in scenic areas that are appealing to remote workers and have labor shortages.
In Montana, for example, average pay has increased 28.3% since before the pandemic, easily beating the roughly 19% national inflation rate during that time. That translates into an average raise of $260 a week to $1,178. No other state saw such a large gain, according to a new Stateline analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers are from 2023, the latest available.
Montana has drawn remote workers with the beauty of its parks and mountains, and has lured blue-collar employees with pay that’s competitive with more expensive areas.
In Florida, where the wage increase was almost as large as in Montana, competition for workers also has driven up wages, and the unemployment rate has been lower than the national average since 2017, said Hector Sandoval, director of the Economic Analysis Program at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
Florida, like Montana, has also been a magnet for well-paid remote workers from New York in fields like finance, said the bureau’s director, Christopher McCarty.
Read the full article here.
Please reach out to us at publicpolicy@floridarealtors.org with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Andy Gonzalez
Vice President of Public Policy
Florida Realtors®