Fears over the spread of coronavirus have already caused the Mortgage Bankers Association and several federal regulators to cancel upcoming conferences, but they’re not the only ones.
The National Association of Realtors announced this week that it is canceling its Joint AE Institute, which was to be held March 13 to 16 in San Diego, and Realtor Broker Summit, which was to be held March 31 to April 1 in Los Angeles.
According to a release from NAR, the conferences will not be held “in response to coronavirus concerns, particularly those emerging on the West Coast of the United States.”
Each conference’s webpage conveys a similar message.
“Due to recent concerns about attending the Broker Summit in Los Angeles following reports of the coronavirus spread, the National Association of Realtors has made the difficult decision to not hold the event as previously scheduled,” NAR said on the Broker Summit website.
“Plans are currently underway to deliver the valuable educational and networking opportunities at the Broker Summit to attendees in other ways,” NAR said. “NAR staff will work on the next steps and share that information as soon as it’s available.”
The MBA also canceled its upcoming Technology Solutions Conference & Expo, which was set for Los Angeles from March 29 to April 1, citing similar concerns.
The cancelations come after California declared a state of emergency over the virus.
According to NAR, the group is working through various options for the canceled conferences, stating that it is “considering alternatives and potential avenues through which to reschedule, relocate or redesign these conferences later in 2020.”
And just like the MBA did, NAR cautioned that these may not be the only cancelations.
“NAR will announce decisions about additional upcoming events as those determinations are made in the coming weeks,” the group said.
NAR and the MBA weren’t the only big names to cancel a conference this week.
The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said on Thursday they were rescheduling the National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference, which was set to take place in Denver from March 9 to 12.
And odds are that these will not be the last canceled conferences and gatherings as the coronavirus outbreak spreads.
