COLLEGE STATION – On Jan. 1, 2021, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University will have a new name. Sort of. After 35 years with its current name, it’s going back to its given identity, the Texas Real Estate Research Center.
The Center was officially created and named the Texas Real Estate Research Center by an act of the state legislature in 1971. The name was unofficially shortened in 1986 to assist in marketing.
“The operating environment has changed over the years,” said Center Executive Director Gary Maler. “We are no longer the best kept secret in Texas. Omitting the word ‘research’ from our name has spawned imitators and caused confusion.
“We are reassuming and reasserting our claim to our official name,” he said. “Texas Real Estate Research Center defines us properly as an applied research organization focused on Texas and the needs of our business leaders and citizens.”
Maler said a “growing list of imitators” is a primary reason for the change. An Internet search for “real estate center” yields more than 2.9 billion possibilities.
The “new” name ushers in the Center’s 50th anniversary year.
The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.