Howard "Hoddy" Hanna III, chairman and CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, was honored recently by an organization of top real estate brokers for his work toward increasing homeownership and building better communities.

Mr. Hanna received the 2009 RISMedia National Homeownership Award, sponsored by Bank of America at RISMedia's 14th Annual Power Broker Dinner held last week in San Diego.

"I'm honored and humbled because it's probably the top recognition in the country for creating homeownership opportunities," said Mr. Hanna, who has been in the real estate industry since earning a real estate license during his senior year in high school in 1965.

"We're trying to do everything possible to create homeownership opportunities, making it simpler, easier and less expensive for people to have the American dream of homeownership."

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services is the fourth-largest full-service real estate company in the country, with 131 offices in 55 counties across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York. The company employs more than 4,700 sales associates and staff.

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