The National Association of Realtors

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? Verdict may lower home prices

Stocks of online real estate giants Redfin and Zillow dropped after the verdict. Data: YCharts. Chart: Axios Visuals It took a Kansas City jury just three hours to find that the National Association of Realtors conspired with two of the nation's largest brokerages to keep commissions on home sales high, Axios' Emily Peck reports. Why it matters: U.S. homebuyers spend around $100 billion a year on broker fees. If the jury's $1.8 billion verdict is upheld, that number will likely shrink. Home prices could fall. ? Catch up fast: At issue were the commissions paid to real estate agents on most home sales. Sellers typically pay a fee of 5%-6% of a home's sale price. That's split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent. The plaintiffs argued that NAR and its codefendants conspired to keep those rates high, and that the system prevents sellers or buyers from negotiating the fees down. (Go deeper.) State of play: The case will drag out for a while. NAR said it would appeal the verdict, and ask the judge to lower the damages awarded. But fees likely will start dropping now. In the lead-up to the verdict, NAR said a seller's fee could be as low as zero. Brokerage firms might start telling their agents to have conversations with clients about fees, inviting negotiation, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman writes. The bottom line: The change could spur fee competition among brokers — a great way to lower prices.

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NAR CEO resigns days after group loses bombshell court case

The CEO of the National Association of Realtors, Bob Goldberg, resigned on Thursday just two days after a $1.8 billion jury verdict against the powerful trade group.

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/02/national-association-of-relators-resign-verdict?

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? Mapped: Realty boom

Data: BLS. Map: Alice Feng/Axios The number of real estate agents in America hit an all-time high last year, with almost three agents for every home on the market. Florida, Arizona and Colorado have the highest shares of real estate agents, Axios' Briana Crane writes. What's happening: The profession drew 150,000+ new people during the pandemic, the N.Y. Times reports. But the field is starting to shrink after record numbers as thousands of agents quit amid the stagnant market.

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? Women rule real estate

Data: LendingTree; Map: Alice Feng/Axios Single women own more homes than single men — and overall homeownership is now majority female. Why it matters: Sixty years ago, women couldn't get a credit card or a mortgage without a male cosigner. Now, the share of single women homeowners eclipses that of single men, Axios' Brianna Crane reports. Solo women mortgage applicants made up 18% of the market in 2023 — a share that's slowly grown since mortgage platform Maxwell started tracking applicants' gender and marital status in 2021. 1 in 3 women with partners bought alone because they were in a stronger financial position to do so, Maxwell's annual Single Women Home Buyer Report found. Single women own an average of roughly 13% of the owner-occupied homes across the 50 states, versus 10.2% among single men, according to a LendingTree analysis of census data. Delaware, Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest shares of single women homeowners. Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states where single men own a larger share of homes than women. ? What's happening: We're seeing a rise in the number of women homeowners — and a strong shift toward women-led households, Urban Institute researcher Jung Hyun Choi tells Axios. In 1990, less than a third of total households (married and single) were headed by females. In 2021, the majority (51%) of households reported being female-headed. In married households, 43% claimed to be female-headed in 2021, compared to just 8% in 1990. Reality check: In most age groups, women outnumber men. "This is more a reflection of strength in numbers than economic vitality," Pew researcher Richard Fry tells Axios.

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Real estate lawsuit settlement upends decadeslong policies that helped set agent commissions

A powerful real estate trade group has agreed to do away with policies that for decades helped set agent commissions, moving to resolve lawsuits that claim the rules have forced people to pay artificially inflated costs to sell their homes.

https://apnews.com/article/national-association-of-realtors-agent-commissions-lawsuits-d62a66cb80639be3c4c3b429053a22c5?

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? Real estate commissions drop

Data: Redfin. Chart: Axios Visuals Real estate commissions have already started falling, in the wake of a landmark settlement this spring that could reshape the housing market — and they'll likely fall even further, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck writes. ? By the numbers: The average commission for a buyer's agent fell to 2.55%, from 2.62% at the beginning of the year, according to an analysis from Redfin of the 50 most populous metro areas in the U.S. The settlement's new rules take effect in a few weeks — changes that will likely cause commissions to shrink even further, and may nudge some agents toward up-front payments rather than commissions.

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? Negotiating commissions

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

NAR commission changes are in full effect, and we want to know how conversations are playing out. Buyers, have you tried negotiating fees with your real estate agent? How was the conversation? Did you end up covering the costs or the seller? Sellers, do you plan to cover the buyers' agent cost? Did your agent initiate a conversation about this or did you? Were you able to save any cash? Email realestate@axios.com with your name and neighborhood or hit reply. We may feature your insights in an upcoming newsletter.

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Mediocre agents are out

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Real estate brokers may be singing for their suppers after new rules on commissions kicked in last month. Why it matters: Changes from a National Association of Realtors settlement could prove especially tough for what Business Insider calls the country's "glut of mediocre Realtors," including amateurs and those whose services might not be worth the price to homebuyers. What we're hearing: "There really is no simpler way to say this than for the top agents, it is business as usual," DMV agent Russell Brazil tells Axios. Zoom in: The industry is already shrinking. Membership for D.C. and Maryland's Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors is down 3.95% so far this year and it dropped 4.7% in 2023. The NAR settlement is partly to blame, Brazil says. He suspects "the market will be unkind" to agents who approach the industry like a hobby. Catch up quick: The status quo is that home sellers typically pay a 5%-6% commission, which is split between the buying and selling agents. Buyers should now be compensating their own brokers, per the settlement reached in March — meaning buyer brokers can't count on a share of seller proceeds. Pro tip: Brazil recommends interviewing multiple agents to weed out the unseasoned professionals. Your agent should understand the nuances of what you're buying or selling, he says. For example, "if someone is looking to sell their mid-century modern home that was designed by the architect Charles Goodman … then the agent needs to very well understand who Charles Goodman is, and why his homes sell for a premium," Brazil says. By the numbers: The average D.C.-area buyer agent commission was 2.35% in July, down from 3.4% in January, before the settlement was announced, according to Redfin. Commissions are projected to continue falling nationally, Axios' Emily Peck reports. What they're saying: "At the end of the day, the market is going to decide whether there are too many Realtors or not enough Realtors," says Nate Johnson, vice president of advocacy at the National Association of Realtors. What we're watching: Sellers can continue offering to cover the buyer's agent commission. As some brokers look for workarounds to the rules, new websites are making it easy to learn if that's the case, HousingWire reports.   Broker exodus begins   Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics/Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; Chart: Axios Visuals There were roughly 72,000 fewer full-time real estate agents and brokers in 2023 than the year before. The big picture: The shrinkage comes as the volume of home sales has fallen — and now analysts expect the decline to continue after the settlement on commissions. Between the lines: Nearly half of about 2,000 agents surveyed by the Consumer Federation of America say they sold fewer than two homes in 2023, The Washington Post reports. Zoom out: The National Association of Realtors, which bills itself as the country's largest trade organization, counts about 1.5 million members. That number has dropped over 100,000 since 2022, one industry observer told The Post.

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Real estate rules

Changes from the National Association of Realtors threatened to upend the way Americans buy and sell homes. Some experts thought the 6% commission would go away. Six months later, industry professionals weigh in on how it’s going.

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Selling solo

After changes to commission practices, some homebuyers and sellers are looking for an alternative to the traditional real estate agent model. One couple in Michigan were a part of the 6% of people who sold their homes without an agent. Here’s how it went.

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? Falling margins for real estate flips

Illustration: Trent Joaquin/Axios

Flipping houses is getting a lot less profitable, largely because home prices are so high to begin with, AP reports. The typical flip now sells for about 25% more than the original purchase price of the home, not accounting for the cost of any renovations. That's the lowest margin since 2008. Margins are shrinking mainly because there's a housing shortage, pushing up the price of fixer-uppers, analysts told AP.

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Real Estate Giant Redfin Exposed Users’ Personal Info on Listing Contact Forms

Because of a website security snafu, the online real estate platform Redfin made random users’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers available to others who log onto listings. The vulnerability lasted less than a week, the company said.

https://theintercept.com/2025/11/13/redfin-user-information-real-estate-listing/?

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• ? Zillow "quietly removed" climate risk estimates from over 1 million listings after pushback from real estate agents and homeowners, the N.Y. Times reports. Gift link.