The city of Houston has declared today “Bob Hale Day” in honor of the president and CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors.
“Bob Hale has devoted his life to the betterment of the real estate industry for both the consumer and Realtor,” said Mayor Annise D. Parker in an official proclamation.
Hale has been at the helm of HAR since 1988. In those 25 years, he has grown HAR to more than 24,000 members, making it the largest trade group in Houston and the second-largest local Realtor association in the country.
Under Hale’s leadership, in 1997 HAR became a pioneer in developing a public multiple listing service website, HAR.com, which is now a household name in the Houston area and regularly beats out major national listing portals in terms of local traffic.
“HAR.com is the only local website to regularly rank among the top 25 real estate sites in the country, with an average of more than 1 million unique visitors generating more than 1.8 billion hits per month,” Parker said.
This is the second time Houston has declared a “Bob Hale Day.” The first was on Aug. 18, 2008.
The city will fête Hale today at the Houston Country Club.
Inman News has named Hale to its 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders every year since 2005. In 2008, Hale was chosen as Inman News’ Innovator of the Year.
Houston’s mayor also declared today “Go Purple Day” in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Sources: Vendor Alley, City of Houston