Formed on April 22, 1913 as a not-for profit organization, the "Fort Wayne Real Estate Exchange" was formed only five years after the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) was established; they became affiliated with NAR that same year. It is the oldest trade association in Allen County.

The name was changed to the Fort Wayne Real Estate Board on February 28, 1917 and it was incorporated under the laws of Indiana as a not-for-profit corporation. On January 27, 1953, the name was again changed to the Fort Wayne Board of REALTORS® and finally changed again to the Fort Wayne Area Association of REALTORS® (FWAAR).

The first formal Association offices were in the Central Building on Fairfield Avenue in 1977, along with a new motto, "REALTORS®, We do our homework." With growth, the Association made subsequent office moves, first to a small, unique triangular-shaped office building which they purchased on St. Joe Boulevard. This was in 1982, the year the Association purchased the Multiple Listing Association. Now called the Fort Wayne Area Multiple Listing Service (FWAMLS), it became a wholly owned, for profit subsidiary, with its own Board of Directors. Through the agreement, Participants contracted to cooperate to sell and list properties under rules that all of the subscribers agree to. Growing membership and increased services required another move to 3124 Lake Avenue in 1986. It was during this time that the Whitley County Association of REALTORS® merged with FWAAR thus broadening the territory and the number of members served by the Association.

The building was sold in 1997 and the offices were moved to temporary quarters at 3401 Lake Avenue until a new building could be built. The move allowed the FWAMLS to be housed on-site with the newest computer system available, a legacy system provided by Interealty. The hardware needed the space of an entire room but response time was greatly improved. In 2001, the FWAMLS was running parallel with the Stellar legacy system and the vendor's new Internet-based system (Net.MLS). Ultimately, the Net.MLS system did not come to fruition in time, and finally in August 2002 the FWAMLS went live with another vendor's system, the Rapattoni Internet-based MLS system. Rapattoni Corporation is still the system vendor for the FWAMLS today.

In 1996, the Association began an innovative program to provide housing opportunities for low income citizens in Fort Wayne. A revolving loan fund was started to provide seed money to renovate houses that were under the umbrella of the local Community Development Corporation. A loan of $25,000 was offered to help with rehab expenses and then refunded when the house was sold. In 1996, the Association was awarded a $10,000 grant from Fannie Mae in recognition of this program. To date eight homes have been completed. The Association also has participated with Habitat for Humanity. In 1997, women REALTORS® participated in building a home entirely built by women. Since then the Association has been involved in building two other Habitat homes in partnership with Wells Fargo Corporation. In addition the Association has held fund raisers for Habitat for Humanity and has participated in their fundraiser, Can Drive.

In April 2000, a Charter to form a Women's Council of REALTORS® was secured for FWAAR.

In 2002, the Association moved into its new headquarters at 3403 E. Dupont Road. The building is situated with close access to I-69 for the convenience of the members, and with future regionalization in mind. The 5,000 square foot building was designed by MSKTD Architects and Engineers and built by Zumbrun General Contractors.

In 2004, an agreement was reached with the Huntington Association of REALTORS® to provide MLS services to their members. This contributed to the growth of FWAMLS and brings us closer to being a regional MLS. The FWAMLS’s membership has increased substantially over recent years, largely due to increases in FWAMLS participation from REALTORS® in outlying neighboring counties. As of late 2004, the FWAMLS has over 1,450 MLS Subscribers, up from fewer than 900 just four years ago (an increase of more than 60%!).

Association Membership has also seen a dramatic increase in recent years, having gone from 770 REALTORS® in early 2002 to more than 1,000 REALTORS® in late 2004 (a 30% increase). FWAAR Affiliate membership has also increased more than 50% from early 2002 to year-end 2004.