Since 1947, NAREB has consistently advocated and worked for Democracy in Housing. Today, many of the same issues and disparities exist. The Building Black Wealth Program (BBWP) consists of initiatives designed to address the myriad of concerns having an impact upon NAREB’s ability to increase to Black homeownership as described in NAREB’s annual editions of State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) Report. *See below

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc. (NAREB) was founded in Tampa, Florida, in 1947 as an equal opportunity and civil rights advocacy organization for African American real estate professionals, consumers, and communities in America.  The purpose of NAREB is to enhanced the economic improvement of its members, the community at large, and the minority community which it serves.  

To unite those engaged in the recognized branches of the real estate industry including brokerage, management, mortgage financing, appraising, land development, home building, and allied fields for the purpose of exerting influence on real estate interests.  Although composed principally of African Americans, the REALTIST© organization embraces all qualified real estate practioners who are committed to achieving our vision, which is "Democracy in Housing". 

Local Black professional and real estate groups began forming in northern and southern communities in the 1880s. Most became members of the National Business League (NBL), founded by Booker T. Washington in the early 1900s. The NBL became the first advocacy association for Black national business trade organizations. Booker T. Washington was a noted businessman, educator, real estate investor, and advisor to several U. S. Presidents from the 1890s to the 1950s. Two local NAREB boards, founded in the 1920s in Harlem (NYC) and Dearborn (Chicago), represent the oldest, continuously active REALTIST © organizations that came out of the NBL and predate NAREB.

NAREB has played varying influential roles in the implementation of equal rights, fair housing, equal opportunity, and community development legislation at the local, state, and federal levels since its founding. Some significant policy achievements of NAREB were the first local fair housing legislation in 1962 in New York City, the first state fair housing legislation in 1963 in California, and the first national fair housing legislation in both 1947 and 1968. It was the 193 California legislation that propelled NAREB into national prominence.