New CEO takes reins at GSBOR

Rob Bell: The GSBOR board selected the new CEO among 21 applicants.

A new CEO is in charge at the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors.

Jeff Kester started in the position Aug. 31, succeeding Miles Noennig, who retired days before. Noennig signaled his retirement plans earlier this year after nearly four years of leading the industry organization.

To take on the new role, Kester has left his job at ReeceNichols Real Estate, where he worked as senior vice president of market development. He’s maintaining his position as board president for the Missouri Realtors industry group – an elected volunteer post also previously held by Noennig.

Kester said he moved into the CEO role nearly 25 years to the day he became a GSBOR member.

“I have served in so many volunteer leadership positions,” he said, noting he was the GSBOR president in 2016. “It has become such a part of me, what I think about, the goal setting that I do. It’s just a seemingly natural progression.”

At the GSBOR, Kester heads an organization with roughly 2,300 members and 125 affiliate members, Noennig said. Affiliate members include businesses providing ancillary services, such as lenders, home inspectors and title companies. The GSBOR provides advocacy and resources to real estate agents in Greene, Christian and Webster counties, according to its website. It was founded in 1933.

Kester said since he started volunteering in real estate association matters on the local and state levels, he’s served in just about every officer position possible.

“In the course of doing so, I have created relationships with many people throughout our region, all of which will benefit the Springfield association,” he said.

Standout successor
GSBOR board President Rob Bell said the CEO search was a four-month process that netted 21 applicants, with the organization’s executive board narrowing the field to five candidates in the first round of interviews. Second interviews were conducted with three finalists before Kester was selected in August. Bell declined to name the other finalists.

“Jeff has a lot of experience. He has a lot of strengths with financials,” Bell said. “He has a lot of experience with advocacy and understands the association.”

Kester’s experience includes helping lead the consolidation of regional multiple listing services in 2013 and 2014, when the Southwest Missouri Board of Realtors formally joined the Southern Missouri Regional MLS, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. Noennig said the GSBOR is a member with six other organizations in the Southern Missouri Regional MLS. GSBOR also keeps the books and provides staffing as the MLS’ general manager, he said.

The MLS is a private database created and maintained by real estate professionals to help their clients buy and sell property, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Noennig said he would have been willing to serve through the end of the year, if necessary, to accommodate the GSBOR leadership team’s search. He came out of retirement in December 2016 to serve in GSBOR’s top position after previously working as chief administrative officer at Carol Jones Realtors, according to past SBJ reporting.

“They came upon the ideal successor,” he said of Kester.

Noting Kester’s background and knowledge of GSBOR and other real estate associations, Noennig said the transition would be a smooth and short one.

Kester said he has no plans to make any foreseeable changes in the office, adding the core goal of the association is to promote the idea of homeownership and property ownership. That remains a key to economic long-term benefits for consumers, he said.

“I don’t think a CEO should walk into an office and say, ‘Here are the following 100 changes to get made.’ I certainly don’t have to do that in this role,” he said.

On the rise
Membership of the Springfield association has been on the increase in recent years, Noennig said – a trend even the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t slowed. New membership orientation has continued through the past several months, drawing a monthly average of 30-35 attendees.

“Two years ago, we passed 2,000 members. So we’ve grown another 15% in the two years since,” he said, crediting the growth of the real estate market. “The numbers are continuing to grow.”

Noennig said the residential real estate market has remained strong throughout 2020, particularly as the Federal Reserve activity to cut interest rates amid the pandemic led to lower mortgage rates. The statewide average for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan was 3.02% in July 2020, he said, a significant drop from 3.77% one year prior.

Interest rates are forecasted to remain historically low through 2021, according to a June report by Federal National Mortgage Association, aka Fannie Mae.

“The numbers this year have just startled me,” Noennig said. “Everything looks really healthy as far as residential sales.”

The greater Springfield area real estate market sold 878 homes in July 2020, up 19% from July 2019, according to GSBOR data. The average sales price in July was $211,857, a 2.5% year-over-year increase. Homes sold at an average 29 days on the market, just one day faster than last year, but well below the July 2020 statewide average of 46 days.

“This being 2020, you have to be mindful for possible disruptions,” Kester said. “However, given the fact that transaction numbers are up in a market environment where our inventory and number of listings has been so low, that points to the overall strength of the housing market and its ability to be sustainable.

“Short of a huge disruption in the market, that pent-up buyer demand should sustain for quite some time.”