The National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose members are known as Realtors, is North America's largest trade association

Trade association

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...

. representing over 1.2 million members (as reported November 2008), including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 industries. NAR also functions as a self-regulatory organization

Self-regulatory organization

A self-regulatory organization is an organization that exercises some degree of regulatory authority over an industry or profession. The regulatory authority could be applied in addition to some form of government regulation, or it could fill the vacuum of an absence of government oversight and...

 for real estate brokerage. The President of NAR for 2011 is Ron Phipps.