Bye-bye Standard 6% Home Purchase Commission
A monumental ruling between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and groups of homesellers just ended the 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, per CNN.
As much as 90% of homes in the U.S. are sold through agents affiliated with the NAR. According to analysts with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, this decision is projected to reduce the $100 billion annual commission pool for 1.6 million agents by 30%.
More importantly, this decision is expected to make buying a home cheaper.
Homebuyers and sellers can now negotiate with brokers and shop around on rates, which should cause commissions to fall as much as 25-50%, per TD Cowen. Even then, America’s fees for buying a home will still be higher than much of the world. Israel, Singapore, and the U.K. only charge 1-2% of the total transaction value for the same amount of work.
The Reddit user 321blastoffff, who went viral for calling real estate agents “zero-talent people that contribute nothing to society,” is probably out celebrating somewhere.