2011's real estate movers and shakers

A new list of the 100 most influential real estate leaders includes several well-connected Minnesotans with a diverse range of specialities.

Those selected are a reflection of the unique challenges facing the industry. For instance, many of those who made the list are economists and academics who monitor and assess the market's health. Others are executives in real estate companies, multiple listing services or professional associations.

And, of course, there are those tech-savvy entrepreneurs who inhabit the ever-changing world of social media and have had an impact on the industry's digital revolution. (Winners, by the way, were nominated through an open, online process. The winners were picked by a group led by the Inman News editorial department.)

Inman provides real estate news, information and research to both industry professionals and consumers.

You can view the complete list at www.inman.com/inman100, but here's a preview of Minnesotans who made it and those with local ties.

Minneapolis-based HomeServices of America Inc. boasted two executives on the list. Robert Moline, president and chief operating officer, and Ron Peltier, chairman and CEO of the company. Both execs were involved in a controversial decision last year to have HomeServices subsidiary Edina Realty Inc. pull its property listings from real estate sites such as Trulia.com and Realtor.com. The move made to drive shoppers to its own website, edinarealty.com. Surely, both guys will be influential voices in the ongoing debate about how brokerages should participate in third-party sites.

Doug Duncan isn't a Minnesota resident, but he grew up in Fergus Falls and still has family there. As vice president and chief economist for Fannie Mae, he's a key player in the health of the nation's housing market, and is constantly monitoring the pulse of the financial world. Inman noted that in 2011, Duncan was named one of the country's most accurate economists by the Wall Street Journal. He was also named one of Businessweek's 50 Most Powerful People in Real Estate.

Mark Allen is the CEO of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, but is also the CEO for a successful subsidiary called 10K Research and Marketing, which provides marketing and statistical reporting services to Realtor associations, multiple listing services, brokerages and other real estate entities throughout the country. Allen is preparing for the launch of another 10K initiative called InfoSparks, which will provide customized market data reports.

John Stumpf is a Minnesota native and a longtime Twin Cities-based banking executive, mostly with the former Norwest Corp., which merged with Wells Fargo Co. in 1998. Today Stumpf is chairman of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. He helped lead Wells Fargo's 2008 purchase of Wachovia Corp.