WASHINGTON, D.C.–Local and state priority issues for Realtors include community revitalization and redevelopment, affordable housing, sales taxes on realty services, smart growth and land use, and state and local taxes and public finance, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of governmental affairs leaders at state and local Realtor associations.
The survey, discussed Friday at the NAR midyear conference, found top local association priorities included point-of-sale mandates, affordable housing, and community revitalization and redevelopment as priority issues, while top state association priorities include federal preemption of state law, point-of-sale mandates, and sales tax on services.
Homeowner’s insurance, infrastructure financing, and restrictions on for-sale signs also ranked in the survey as priority issues. The survey was intended to help guide NAR research and analysis of local and state issues.
Survey respondents said regulatory barriers to affordable housing should be a top priority for the association’s research with financial incentives for building affordable housing as a secondary research priority.
Brownfield development, property and casualty insurance, and landlord and tenant rights should be top priorities of research in the area of commercial and investment real estate, according to the survey responses.
Housing density and mixed-use development are important elements of smart growth, according to respondents, and the association should focus its smart-growth research on comprehensive planning, water availability and local zoning laws, among other priorities.
Impact fees, sales tax on services and real estate transfer taxes are important aspects of state and local taxes and public finance that the association should study, the survey also found. Sales taxes, income tax, and Internet access and sales taxes should also be high-priority issues of research for the association, according to the study.
A total of 108 Realtors, including 65 Realtors who are local governmental affairs directors, 35 Realtors who are state association governmental affairs directors, and seven other directors participated in the study, which was conducted April 16 to May 3.
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