The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more.
In a sweeping move expected to reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement with groups of homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.
The NAR, which represents more than 1 million Realtors, also agreed to put in place a set of new rules. One prevents sellers’ brokers from setting buyers’ agents’ compensation, which critics say led brokers to push more expensive properties on customers. Another ends requirements that brokers subscribe to multiple listing services — many of which are owned by NAR subsidiaries — where homes are given a wide viewing in a local market. Another new rule will require buyers’ brokers to enter into written agreements with their buyers.
The agreement effectively will destroy the current homebuying and selling business model, in which sellers pay both their broker and a buyer’s broker, which critics say have driven housing prices artificially higher.
Or, ya know, regulate rampant price fixing.
Who is fixing the prices of homes? I would expect it to basically be a bunch of individual sellers setting it at what the market would allow.
Yeah, no it’s an entire industry.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yardi-rent-setting-software-illegally-223000337.html
That’s about someone alleging collusion among some massive rental owners in Seattle. . .and it’s being offered up as proof that there is some collusion among individual home owners in selling homes across the country.
Well okay then.