NAR Ad Blitz Spawns Media Coverage

"The public reaction we're receiving indicates how much this campaign was needed," says NAR President Thomas M. Stevens. The campaign trumpets today's favorable home buying conditions.
REALTOR® Magazine Online
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ first-ever newspaper blitz, in which full-page ads illustrate why now is a smart time to buy, has received widespread media coverage and earned high marks from members across the country.
“The public reaction we’re receiving indicates how much this campaign was needed,” says Thomas M. Stevens, NAR President.

The advertisement (650k PDF) rolled out on Nov. 3 in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Over the following weekend, it also ran in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune.

The ambitious campaign aims to urge hesitant buyers to take action now, while interest rates are near record lows, inventory is supple, and prices have leveled off. Similar full-page ads will run in the same newspapers again on the weekend of Nov. 10-12.

In the days after the ad campaign launched on Friday, news articles about NAR's “Buy Now” message appeared in dozens of well-respected newspapers, from the The New York Times to the The Sacramento Bee. Here's what some of them had to say:

    • “It may go down as the ‘Got milk?’ moment for the housing sector.” — The New
      York Times, Nov. 3.

    • “Local REALTORS® at a media event yesterday said it's a lot better to be
      selling in today's ‘normal’ environment than in the five-year real estate boom
      when prices climbed 20 percent a year and multiple bids over listing price
      were offered on the first day.” — The Baltimore Sun, Nov. 4

    • “The NAR ads say there are strong arguments for prospective buyers to jump
      into the market, with interest rates remaining relatively low and inventories
      of unsold homes still high.” — Reuters News, Nov. 6.

Over the weekend, local and national radio shows also featured stories centering on the campaign's message. Meanwhile, REALTOR® associations on the state and local level report an outpouring of positive comments from members who’ve been trying to motivate buyers who are waiting on the sidelines.

“Real estate professionals around the country know that a lot of the negative publicity about the real estate market just wasn’t true,” Stevens says. “They’re really glad we’re setting the record straight.”