When I ran to become Washington REALTORS® first vice president in 2022 — the election that put me on the path to be the current president for Washington REALTORS® — people asked what my goals were for “my year”: 2025. My honest response was that I didn’t think it was possible to know, three years out, what challenges we might be facing at that time. There are times I wish I’d been proven wrong in that response.
Between changes in agency law, legal settlements at the national level and a difficult market defined by both high interest rates and low inventory, we face a challenging time in this industry. Despite the headwinds, though, I look forward to 2025 and taking on the obstacles we face.
Washington REALTORS® has long been looked at as leader across the nation. We were ahead of most states when it came to buyer agency, changing our agency law in 2023, well ahead of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement. The presence of a large, non-Realtor owned MLS also makes us a test case for how associations need to operate when MLS access isn’t tied to association membership.
Our status as a leader was clearly shown during our 2025 Hill Day, when both NAR President Kevin Sears and NAR CEO Nykia Wright traveled from Chicago to Olympia, Washington for a panel in our general session. My personal takeaway from was that now is the time to fight — not only for our industry, but also for our clients’ ability to enjoy the benefits of homeownership.
The real estate industry in the United States is unique to the rest of the world. The 30-year, fixed mortgage is not available in many countries; neither is an MLS system that provides agents and consumers a standardized set of data on listings, nor a tax structure that promotes homeownership through tax incentives like the mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions. All these things combine to give U.S. consumers the greatest opportunity to own real estate and establish generational wealth.
All these things require us to continue to work to maintain and expand that opportunity. In this legislative session, Washington REALTORS® is working to increase inventory through supply-side legislation, including lot splitting, that would make it easier to create new buildable lots within urban growth boundaries. We are optimistic that bill will get through the legislature this year. We also continue to advocate for rural accessory-dwelling units, and while that may not pass this year, each year we work on that gets us a little closer to the finish line.
Washington REALTORS® is also working hard this legislative session to protect our membership’s bottom line. A sales tax on services/commissions, an increase in the business and occupation (B&O) tax, a local property tax increase and an increase on the real estate excise tax have all been discussed by the legislature this year. At a time when the real estate market already faces many challenges, making it more expensive to do business in the last thing our industry needs.
If you look up the definition of advocacy, one result you will find is, “support for or recommendation of a particular cause.” As Realtors, that is what we do in a daily basis. When we talk about advocacy, we tend to think about legislative efforts, but I believe it goes beyond that.
We advocate for our clients in our transaction negotiations. We advocate for our communities in how we give back and volunteer. I believe some of the legislative successes we have had in past years is because advocacy comes so natural to what we do. In conclusion, if asked today what my goals are for this year, it would be just that: Advocating for all members of Washington REALTORS®, we’re working to maintain, promote and enhance the industry that gives us and our clients so many opportunities.
John Blom is the president of Washington REALTORS®.