Breaking Down NAR’s 2024 Spending Amid Tumultuous Year

The National Association of Realtors shelled out big bucks for executives, lobbyists and marketing firms last year, as it battled backlash over losing a landmark antitrust case.

The organization’s latest 990 tax form shows it brought in more than $360 million in revenue in 2024, about the same as its totals in 2023, Inman reported. The industry’s largest trade group also counted assets worth more than $1 billion.

Among its largest expenses were salaries and benefits, totaling $73 million. The group paid CEO Nikita Wright a salary of $2.5 million plus $57,000 in other compensation and a $250,000 bonus. The year before, her predecessor, Bob Goldberg, took home $3 million in salary with an additional $57,000 in other compensation.

NAR’s 2024 president, Kevin Sears, earned more than $350,000, though his position is considered a volunteer role.

The trade group drew criticism over its executive and leadership spending last year, when the New York Times published an investigation revealing perks and hefty compensation packages. At the time, nonprofit experts told the Times that the organization’s spending could run afoul of tax laws governing compensation for volunteers.

However, a spokesperson for NAR pushed back against their claims, arguing the perks and payments to volunteer leaders were meant to offset the loss of commissions due to dedicating so much time to the organization.

While Inman’s review shows NAR’s expenses remained high last year, a spokesperson told the outlet that the tax form doesn’t showcase the “significant progress” NAR has made in “strengthening fiscal discipline.”

The spokesperson added that the group’s 2026 annual report would recap some of these efforts, as well as “preview the steps we will take in 2026 to further improve how NAR operates and delivers for members moving forward.”

NAR spent more than $86 million on lobbying last year, more than any other organization in the U.S., according to OpenSecrets.

The group’s political donations also came under fire in 2024, when the Times released another investigation into the group’s political action committee. The report found that a nonprofit called the American Property Owners Alliance, which is tied to NAR’s political action committee, gave most of its grant money to Republican or conservative-aligned groups despite NAR’s claims that its political contributions are party-neutral.

Though 2024 was the year of NAR’s momentous settlement, the group’s legal expenses totaled just $5.7 million, less than half of its spending in previous years when it was actively litigating the cases.

The organization spent $66 million on marketing and public relations-related expenses last year, including nearly $43 million to Havas Media Group and $15 million to Brunswick Group. The group also paid close to $8 million to Uncommon Creative Studio for branding-related services.

Despite its big spending, the trade group’s membership has largely declined since it agreed to pay $418 million to settle litigation alleging it colluded with major brokerages to drive commissions up. Last March, membership fell below 1.5 million for the first time in three years.

Earlier this year, Wright said the group was expecting membership to drop to 1.2 million in 2026, which would cost the group roughly $35 million. Just last month, the organization announced it would no longer require agents to be members of the group in order to access its affiliated multiple listing services.

— Sheridan Wall