National Association of Realtors launches employer housing campaign

NAR’s Home from Work campaign encourages and trains Realtors to work with businesses for the development of employer-assisted, housing-benefit plans.

Such plans might include home-buying workshops, individualized housing counseling or financial incentives.

“Realtors care about the lack of housing opportunities and know that working to promote affordable housing opportunities for families is good for the community,” said NAR President Thomas M. Stevens, in a news release. “Realtors build communities, and Home from Work gives (them) the tools to ... help organizations increase their business opportunities while also helping their employees achieve their goal of homeownership.”

As the cost of housing continues to rise in many areas, some workers can no longer afford to live near their places of employment and may be forced to commute long distances to work. Employers who provide EAH benefits can increase employee loyalty and morale while reducing turnover, which leads to lower training and hiring costs.

“The Home from Work campaign has the potential to change the way employers think about employer-assisted benefits,” Stevens said. “No longer will EAH be viewed as an expense associated with hiring a new employee, but rather as an investment in the employee and the future of their company.”

Home from Work is the newest initiative of NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program, which works to identify, develop and promote opportunities that expand housing availability in the rental and homeownership markets. The Housing Opportunity Program was created in 2002.

NAR represents more than 1.3 million members who are involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate.