American Real Estate Association Welcomes First Local Chapter

The American Real Estate Association is welcoming its first local chapter. On Wednesday, the upstart real estate trade group announced that the New York Residential Agent Continuum (NYRAC) had made the decision to integrate with American REA.

The deal is set to be finalized at the end of Q1 2025, but co-founder Jason Haber said no money was changing hands.

NYRAC has 176 members from New York-based brokerages including Compass, Douglas Elliman and SERHANT., according to its website.

In an announcement, American REA called the move a “major step forward in strengthening our mission to serve and support real estate professionals across the industry.”

In coming together with NYRAC, American REA said it will be able to provide members with expanded resources and tools, foster deeper connections and collaboration, and build a stronger, more unified voice to advocate for the issues that matter to the real estate community.

“We are thrilled to be working with NYRAC and to be expanding the American Real Estate Association,” Haber said in a video posted on social media. “This will be our first local chapter, and we will be opening chapters around the country as well, but we are starting right here in New York. We will be working on issue advocacy, policy, education, all the things that are important to the real estate industry for our residential agents.”

Haber and and Mauricio Umansky launched the American Real Estate Association in January 2024 as an alternative to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).As of January, American REA has over 5,000 members. The group launched its membership program in August 2024, with two tiers — a yearly membership for $20 and a 10-year founding membership for $1,500.