1997 General Overview
Dolly becomes the first cloned mammal, sparking a worldwide debate over human cloning. After a journey of 390 million miles, Pathfinder breaches the outer limits of human space when it lands safely on Mars and begins to transmit amazing pictures back to Earth. The world’s brightest comet, Hale-Bopp, makes its closest approach to Earth in more than 400 years.
Britain cedes Hong Kong back to China after 155 years. The US, UK, and France agree to freeze Nazi’s loot and the US space shuttle docks at the Russian Space Station. J. K. Rowling's first Harry Potter story is published in the UK and quickly becomes a global phenomena, not to mention one of the five most valuable movie franchises of all time.
Real Estate Overview
NRT, Inc., a Cendant-owned brokerage-holding company, proves that size doesn’t matter when, with a steady diet of acquisitions, it begins to dominate the national rankings, making it the world’s largest real estate brokerage company. This position continues today, with more than 1,000 company-owned offices. In 2004, NRT posts a real estate industry record with $204 billion in closed sales volume.
Microsoft starts what in the end is to be a very brief stint in the real estate industry with the launch of HomeAdvisor.com. What was to become the landmark book in real estate is published, when Real Estate Confronts Reality identifies the key changes that will impact the industry. Reflection on the predictions made in this book would later prove to be very accurate.
