WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008

The National Association of Realtors has awarded $39,500 to 13 local and state Realtor associations through the Housing Opportunity Fund grants program. The grants help support the housing opportunity efforts of local and state Realtor associations.

One of the grants – for $2,000 -- went to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors for its Home Buyers Fair in Westwood July 12.

“Realtors build communities and care about the lack of housing opportunities available to low- and moderate-income families,” said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. “These grants help support NAR’s mission of advocating solutions to today’s critical housing needs and help position Realtors® as leaders in their communities by increasing access to affordable housing and homeownership.”

NAR established the Housing Opportunity Fund − formerly the State and Local Initiatives Fund − in 2006. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded twice per year; since the program’s inception more than 77 grants totaling nearly a quarter of a million dollars have been awarded to support a wide range of housing opportunity activities.