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Real Estate
Descendent of Japanese Internment Camp survivors takes helm of AREAA
Posted
This history is not lost on me. As the head of a national organization aiming to increase homeownership in the AAPI community, I am personally aware that not long ago, hundreds of thousands lost properties after being unfairly imprisoned, and most continue to fight hurdles as they pursue homeownership today.”
Kurt Nishimura, 2023 president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America
Kurt Nishimura, a descendent of Japanese Internment Camp survivors, has been named the 2023 president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America.
Founded in 2003, AREAA will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023 as a national nonprofit trade organization dedicated to improving the lives of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community through homeownership, according to a press release.
With more than a decade of real estate experience, Nishimura is a Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist affiliated with the Biltmore-Paradise Valley office of Coldwell Banker Realty.
“My first order as president will be to establish a task force focused on creating affordable homes on a national scale,” said Nishimura. “We also will continue to help educate immigrants, increase language access, improve representation from leaders and fight systemic racism in the industry.”
He went on to say, “My grandparents and my father, as a child, were held in a Japanese Internment Camp here in Arizona,” said Nishimura. “This history is not lost on me. As the head of a national organization aiming to increase homeownership in the AAPI community, I am personally aware that not long ago, hundreds of thousands lost properties after being unfairly imprisoned, and most continue to fight hurdles as they pursue homeownership today.”
Active with AREAA since 2012, Nishimura founded the Greater Phoenix Chapter of AREAA and served as its president in 2014, 2015 and 2019. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the commercial chair for AREAA’s National Board as well as treasurer for AREAA Global. Currently, he serves as the development co-chair for AREAA, the press release stated.
“With only one active chapter in Arizona, there is still a need for more representation in Arizona for the AAPI community,” said Nishimura. “One way I hope to help increase AAPI representation is to start an AREAA chapter in Tucson.”
An award-winning top producing agent, Nishimura has received the 2021 International President Premier Circle award presented by Coldwell Banker to the top 3% of all affiliate agents and the 2020 International Sterling Circle award presented by Coldwell Banker to the top 10% of all affiliate agents. He holds an MBA with an emphasis on real estate development from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Illinois University.
Most recently, AREAA successfully persuaded the U.S. Census Bureau to track and include Asian housing data as a standalone category in its quarterly reports on homeownership by race and ethnicity. To learn more about AREAA, visit areaa.org.
