The National Association of Realtors agreed Friday to resolve antitrust litigation accusing brokerages of inflating sales commissions, a settlement likely to bring major changes and lower costs when Americans buy and sell homes.
The $418 million settlement calls for the NAR to eliminate decades-old rules on commissions and make it easier for buyers to negotiate fees with their own agents or use no agents at all.
These changes could spur more home sales by lowering typical commissions by thousands of dollars, a benefit to less-wealthy people and families struggling with inflationary pressures or being priced out of their neighborhoods.
But it may also reduce revenue for traditional real estate brokerages and make employment less lucrative and appealing to the more than 1 million agents the NAR represents.
The settlement was announced 4½ months after a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, ordered the NAR and several brokerages to pay $1.78 billion in an antitrust case covering agents in that state.
A judge there is considering a request by plaintiffs to triple the damages.
Several similar lawsuits have been filed around the country.
Defendants in the litigation have included HomeServices of America, part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
Anywhere Real Estate, Compass, Douglas Elliman, Keller Williams and Re/Max are among other brokerages that have been sued.
Share prices for several brokerages fell, including some by double-digit percentages, after the settlement was announced. Some homebuilders' shares, including Lennar and Toll Brothers, gained on the news.
The accord requires court approval. It resolves claims against NAR agents, state and local Realtor groups, and most smaller brokerages. HomeServices is not part of the settlement.
Reforms ahead
Sellers had objected to the longstanding practice of paying the combined 5% to 6% commissions for their own agents and for buyers' agents, with their own agents setting fees for both.
Critics believed sellers should be allowed to list homes on various databases without paying buyers' agents, with both sides shopping around for the best price.
They have also said the current setup encouraged agents to steer clients toward homes carrying higher commissions.
Under the settlement, home listings on the NAR's Multiple Listing Service would no longer tell buyers' agents how much they could expect to be paid.
Buyers' agents would also have to enter into written agreements with their clients. The changes take effect in mid-July.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, which helped broker the settlement on behalf of opponents of the industry's practices, said sellers using multiple listing services will no longer have to pay buyers' agents.
Confusion predicted
Not everyone welcomes the changes.
"It will cause confusion for every buyer, seller, broker and agent," said Judi Desiderio, chief executive of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton, New York, where homes routinely sell for millions of dollars.
Some buyers could end up paying more for homes, Desiderio said.
