National Association of Realtors reports $57.4 million in lobbying spending through September, above its 2025 total

By Beatrix Holloway

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Realtors reported $57.4 million in federal lobbying expenses for the first nine months of 2026, more than the $54.1 million it reported for all of 2025, according to its Lobbying Disclosure Act filings. The trade group’s third-quarter report, filed Oct. 20, listed $27.4 million for July through September alone, the largest quarterly figure in any of its reports for 2025 or 2026.

In its filings, the association describes lobbying the House, the Senate and about 18 federal agencies on housing supply and affordability, mortgage finance, taxes, flood and disaster insurance and the classification of real estate agents as independent contractors. Its third-quarter report lists “communications supporting full funding for critical housing programs and avoiding any government shutdowns” among its budget work, and support for bills including the ROAD to Housing Act, S. 2651, and the More Homes on the Market Act, H.R. 1340 and S. 3332.

NAR reports its spending under the tax code’s definition of lobbying, section 162(e), one of three methods the law allows trade groups and companies that lobby for themselves. That definition can include state-level and grassroots lobbying costs that the narrower federal definition does not, so the totals are not directly comparable with filers that use the federal method. The filings do not explain the third-quarter increase.

Spending by quarter

What the filings cover

• Housing: the HOUSES Act, the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, “Yes in My Backyard” legislation, the Whole Home Repairs Act and the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act.
• Mortgage finance: communications with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on its strategic plan, housing goals, appraisal modernization and condominium rules, with Fannie Mae on loan-level price adjustments and capital, and with Congress on proposals to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• Taxes: the More Homes on the Market Act, which would raise the capital gains exclusion on home sales, and the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act.
• Labor and immigration: H.R. 3495, which would affirm independent contractor status for real estate agents, and the EB-5 investor visa program.
• Banking and technology: the SAFE Banking Act on cannabis businesses’ access to banks, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, remote online notarization and data privacy bills.

The third-quarter report lists 26 lobbyists, all NAR employees, including Shannon McGahn, the association’s executive vice president and chief advocacy officer, according to her NAR biography. The report lists no prior government positions for its lobbyists; the law requires that disclosure when a lobbyist is first listed for a client, so earlier filings may contain it.

The PAC

The Realtors’ political action committee reported $16.8 million in receipts and $19.5 million in spending in the 2025-26 election cycle through Oct. 14, with $15.7 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records. It reported $12.0 million in contributions to other committees and $3.6 million in independent expenditures over the same period.

Itemized FEC records show about $2.73 million in direct contributions from the PAC to 497 candidate committees this cycle: about $1.45 million to Republicans and $1.23 million to Democrats. Its largest itemized independent expenditures supported Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, about $506,000 across vendors including Bridge Impact and Meath Media Group, followed by Reps. Andy Barr, R-Ky., Julie Johnson, D-Texas, Young Kim, R-Calif., Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., Wesley Bell, D-Mo., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

The association’s chief executive, Nykia Wright, received $2,492,914 in reported compensation and $57,343 in other compensation in 2024, a total of about $2.55 million, according to the association’s most recent tax filing as compiled by ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer. McGahn received $1,164,222 in reported compensation and $57,343 in other compensation that year.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor is seeking comment from the National Association of Realtors, through its media office, on the third-quarter increase and its reporting method, and from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Association of Home Builders, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Federation of America, which have taken positions on several of the same housing and mortgage issues. This story will be updated with any responses.