Commissions initially declined after the settlement announcement, dropping to a low of 2.36% in the third quarter of 2024.
The shift reflects changing market dynamics that favor buyers. In June, there were more than 500,000 additional sellers than buyers in the US housing market, the largest disparity since Redfin began tracking the data in 2013.
“Austin’s market is slow, so buyers have a lot more power,” said Andrew Vallejo, a real estate gent in Austin, Texas, told Redfin. “Buyers can walk away if the seller does not pay the buyer’s agent commission, and they’ll likely be able to find another home they like with a seller who is willing to pay what the buyer is asking for to offload their home.”
Vallejo noted that most buyer agents now request a 3% commission, up from 2.5% to 2.75% before the NAR settlement.
Commission increases occurred across all price categories. For homes under $500,000, the average buyer agent commission reached 2.52%, the highest level since the third quarter of 2023. Mid-tier homes priced between $500,000 and $999,999 saw commissions average 2.34%, while luxury homes over $1 million had the lowest rates at 2.21%.