The finance and economics blog CalculatedRiskBlog.com offered a detailed analysis of the revision, it’s impact on inventory levels and what is expected to be slight decrease in GDP due to the reduction of broker income. While that impact is expected to be slight, this revision underscores the depth of economic cycle both on the sales side and on the inventory side.

While no formal announcement has been made yet on the NAR website, hopes are that subcommittee focused directly on resolving emerging technology issues and more specifically looking at IDX and applying it to emerging media will be able to provide NAR with better direction and to better protect the real estate industry.

According to NAR economist Lawrence Yun, “For the real estate business, this means the housing market’s downturn was deeper than what was initially thought,” Yun said.

Other reasons for revising the data include old assumptions based on aged census information, and some assumptions about FSBO listings which do not appear in MLS databases.

Real estate bloggers are starting to react to the news with blog posts like this starting to appear.

The Board of Directors for both the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® (MORe) and the REALTOR® Association of Northwest Chicagoland (RANWC) have voted unanimously for the merger of the two groups and now just need their members to approve it in July.

The new group would include 16,000 members serving 185 communities in Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties. It would be the largest association of realty agents in Illinois.

The economies of scale for MLS mergers are particularly attractive in a time period where membership is declining, technology can be deployed in a very scalable way, and support staff can be more efficiently managed in a larger setting. Real Estate industry Watch has confirmed a number of MLS’s are currently considering the option to merge with nearby boards.

“I want to quit NAR” was one reaction.

“I REALLY don’t like the fact that I have to donate to political candidates that may or may not be of my choosing.” was another.

“I think NAR is becoming the new AARP.”

“Am I now a union employee? Forced to donate to candidates that I don’t like in order to have my listings on the MLS?”

One thing that is almost universally true. In the people we have talked to, almost noone who is an agent or broker and has to pay the dues agrees that it is a good idea. The issue does not appear to be the amount of money, but the principle of donating to candidates that they disagree with.

The sticking point for many of the bloggers seems to be that the fees are MANDATORY. For years, REALTORS can contribute via RPAC to NAR’s political action committee, but making the $40 fee hike mandatory crosses a bridge many are not willing to cross.

RealEstateIndustryWatch would be interested in posting anyone with a PRO fee increase point of view. Please comment below.

“As the leading advocate for home ownership, NAR believes that the federal government must continue to play a role in the mortgage markets to ensure the steady flow of safe and affordable mortgage funding that middle-class consumers need, and only the government can provide that backing,” said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I.

According to the NAR press release:

NAR believes the previous structure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with private profits and taxpayer loss must never recur; however, without some level of government backing of the most basic, simple mortgages – such as the 30-year fixed rate product – interest rates and mortgage fees will be notably higher for consumers and could severely restrict access to credit, especially during down or disruptive markets. The recent economic downturn, for example, caused private capital to flee the marketplace; government backing of residential mortgages was critical in providing capital to borrowers and without their support the financial crisis could have been far worse.

According to executives from each of the companies:

“Our new relationship with AOL Real Estate is an exciting opportunity for Move to once again deliver on our commitment to connect agents with large, high-quality audiences of potential buyers,” said Move, Inc., Chief Executive Officer Steve Berkowitz. “By remaining focused on delivering an exceptional user experience, accurate data, and high value products, Move continues to build our category leadership to the benefit of consumers, agents and brokers. We’re excited to move forward with AOL and use our combined strengths to help agents and advertisers grow their businesses.”

“AOL will be doubling down on our strategy in 2011,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AOL Inc. “As part of that effort, we will be partnering with companies in areas that add strength to the consumer experience and drive profitability for AOL.”

The net effect of the deal is expected to be that AOL will be provided syndicated listings from Move, Inc. and that they will jointly work towards sales efforts to REALTORS, brokers and other advertisers. Financial terms of the deal were not made available.

The decision appears to be intended to position Move in a place where they can control syndicated listings to competitors Zillow and Trulia while also continuing to control REALTORS via the user experience of REALTOR.com. This purchase comes on the heels of an announced decision with NAR allowing MOVE to syndicate listings which was recently finalized.