Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

District Court in South Carolina, alleging that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Keller Williams colluded to artificially inflate agent commission rates, increasing costs for home sellers. “The effect of these rules is not simply that the seller must pay the buyer broker’s compensation,” the complaint states.

Sellers 432

Sellers Realtors Buyers Agents 432

Housing Wire

JANUARY 11, 2024

“Defendants’ conspiracy has artificially inflated broker commissions to a range of 5-6% of the sale price in nearly all residential real estate transactions in REBNY Brooklyn—half of which automatically goes to the Buyer Broker—an overcharge that is borne entirely by the home seller,” the complaint states. “In

Real Estate 432

Real Estate Sellers Real Estate Agent Agents 432

Housing Wire

APRIL 13, 2021

1 city in population growth for the last eight years and it was the hottest job market in 2019 and 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. If they get a higher offer that has financing, then when appraisal comes back, the buyer is going to renegotiate the sales price to be closer to appraised value.”. Austin has ranked as the No.

Housing Market 534

Housing Market Buyers Marketing Real Estate Agent 534

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

On Wednesday, home seller plaintiffs in northern Georgia filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit accusing real estate industry players of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. The plaintiffs also take issue with the buyer’s alleged inability to negotiate their agent’s commission. 22, 2019, and the present.

Real Estate 450

Real Estate Real Estate Agent Sellers Realty 450

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

A Kansas City jury has found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of colluding to inflate or maintain high commission rates through NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule, in the Sitzer/Burnett buyer broker commission lawsuit. The defendants have been ordered to pay damages of $1.78

Brokerage 545

Brokerage Realtors Sellers Buyers 545

Housing Wire

MARCH 14, 2024

They noted that in the Houston metro area, between 1997 and 2019, 2.58 of them including an offer to pay 3% of the sales price to the buyer’s agent. Because of this, the authors believe buyer agents are then able to “command commission above cost.” buyer’s agent compensation structure deviates from its cost basis in two ways.

Agents 431

Agents Legal Real Estate Agent Buyers 431

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 12, 2023

A home seller plaintiff in California filed an antitrust lawsuit on Friday in U.S. The lawsuit was filed by Christina Grace, who sold a house listed on Bay Area Real Estate Information Services MLS (BAREIS MLS) in April 2020 and paid a commission to the buyer’s agent. 8, 2019, and the present.

Realtors 450

Realtors Sellers Buyers Real Estate 450

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

On Wednesday, Manhattan home seller Monty March filed a lawsuit in U.S. The 105-page complaint takes aim at a REBNY Listing Service rule called the Buyer Broker Commission Rule, which states that the brokers “shall each be paid an equal share of the commission as specified in the Exclusive Listing.” 8, 2019, and the present.

Real Estate 473

Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 473

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

Existing-home sales picked up in January as buyers took advantage of the lowest mortgage rates seen in several months. Listings were modestly higher, and home buyers are taking advantage of lower mortgage rates compared to late last year.” While inventory is less depleted, it remains well below the pre-pandemic level of January 2019.

Inventory 432

Inventory Sellers Buyers Realtors 432

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

31, 2023, the Gibson lawsuit pits three Missouri home sellers, Don Gibson, Lauren Criss and John Meiners, against National Association of Realtors , Compass , eXp World Holdings , Redfin , Weichert Realtors , United Real Estate , Howard Hanna and Douglas Elliman. Its agents also offer buyer broker compensation.

Real Estate 432

Real Estate Sellers Realtors Real Estate Agent 432

Housing Wire

MARCH 6, 2024

Bad for sellers Prospective home sellers may not notice incremental changes in mortgage rates. percentage points—sellers take notice. Facing these realities, many would-be sellers decide to stay put. in 2019-2020, 16.9-17.2% No wonder, then, that many sellers decided to pull their listings. 31% in 2023-2024.

Mortgage 441

Mortgage Sellers New Listings Buyers 441

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Just hours after securing a victory for his home seller clients in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit, Michael Ketchmark, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, filed another class action antitrust lawsuit against some of the real estate industry’s biggest players, in U.S. District Court for Western Missouri.

Real Estate 421

Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 421

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

“This collaboration reflects our dedication to equipping NAR members with innovative solutions that cater to the evolving needs of their clients, ensuring a smooth experience for sellers and buyers alike,” said Rhonny Barragan, NAR vice president of strategic alliances in an announcement of the deal.

Home Improvement 410

Home Improvement Realtors Real Estate Agent Inspection 410

Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2024

These metros also continue to grapple with below-average inventory recovery, maintaining pressure on buyers. New Orleans, Austin and San Antonio are the three markets where buyers have more choices than before the pandemic, while Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville are down only 9%, tied for the second-smallest drop.

Housing Market 441

Housing Market Inventory Buyers New Listings 441

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2023

Filed in March 2019 , the Moehrl suit is the oldest of the commission lawsuits currently making their way through various courts across the country. “After almost five years of litigation, it is clear that Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Real Estate 420

Real Estate Sellers Realtors Brokerage 420

Housing Wire

JANUARY 9, 2023

Buyer behavior on the Auction.com platform provides one of the best barometers of the retail housing market because the success and livelihood of these buyers depend heavily on them accurately anticipating what the retail market will look like in the next six to 12 months. percent, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

Retail 491

Retail Sellers Buyers Market Value 491

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2023

The systems outage has derailed closings across the country over the holidays for homebuyers and sellers using the company’s title services in more than 2,000 locations. Homebuyers, sellers and appraisers have been responding to the company’s LinkedIn announcement on the cybersecurity incident, asking for clarification.

Sellers 496

Sellers Insurance Valuation Clients 496

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

“Defendant’s illegal collusion has the inevitable effect of forcing home sellers like Plaintiff to bear a cost—buyer’s side commissions—that in a competitive marketplace lacking Defendants’ collusion would be borne by the buyer, if at all,” the complaint reads. 2021 to a buyer represented by a Redfin agent.

Realtors 431

Realtors Legal Agents Brokerage 431

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

At the center of the plaintiffs’ complaint is the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation policy, which requires listing brokers to make a blanket offer of compensation to buyers’ brokers in order to list the property on the MLS. “In This would lead to competition among buyer brokers to offer lower commission rates.

Real Estate 410

Real Estate Realtors Realty Buyers 410

Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2024

My advice to sellers is to price your home fairly,” Chen Zhao, economic research lead at Redfin, said in a statement. Even though sellers are getting top dollar at the moment, they should price competitively to attract buyers from the start and avoid having to drop their price as stubbornly high mortgage rates eat into buying budgets.

Housing Market 441

Housing Market Marketing Insurance Sellers 441

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

The share of Black and Asian first-time buyers is down from 6% in 2021, while the share of white first-time buyers is up from 82% and Hispanic homebuyers up from 7%. Conversely, White and Hispanic Americans experienced gains in buyer shares. NAR found the age of repeat buyers increased to 59 years from 56 years last year.

Buyers 397

Buyers Sellers Real Estate Agent Real Estate 397

Housing Wire

APRIL 22, 2024

We negotiated to get the sellers the highest price possible. There are still plenty of buyers interested in this area. In fact, we had (number) offers, which means there are still ready, willing, and qualified buyers eager to make an offer! Many of us are in sellers’ markets with very low inventory.

Real Estate 440

Real Estate Open Houses Brokerage Real Estate Agent 440

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 6, 2023

More home sellers on the East Coast are getting in on the commission lawsuit action. Similar to the other commission lawsuits, the latest two take aim at the National Association of Realtors’ Participation Rule, which requires the listing broker to make a blanket offer of compensation to the buyer’s broker to list the property on the MLS.

Realty 432

Realty Realtors Brokerage Real Estate 432

Housing Wire

MAY 23, 2023

These buyers are primarily local community developers who purchase distressed properties and then resell or rent those properties on the retail market following rehab — a process that typically takes about six months. Those mortgage rates have stabilized in early 2023 helping to give buyers more confidence and certainty.

Housing Market 432

Housing Market Marketing Retail Sellers 432

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

With mortgage rates briefly topping 8% and home prices breaking records throughout the year, many would-be sellers simply decided not to bother listing their homes, exacerbating already tight inventories. Mortgage rates followed suit, walloping buyers’ purchasing power. How quickly would sellers return if rates were lower?

Inventory 432

Inventory Sellers Mortgage Marketing 432

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 17, 2023

The highly anticipated trial of the Sitzer/Burnett buyer broker compensation class action lawsuit kicked off in earnest on Tuesday morning, with opening arguments taking place in the Kansas City courtroom belonging to U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough.

Sellers 410

Sellers Agents Buyers Realtors 410

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Anywhere Real Estate ’s settlement agreement in two class action antitrust lawsuits dealing with buyer broker compensation raises important questions about the future of buyer’s agency and how other defendants are viewing the fast approaching trials. million in damages for both the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett suits.

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Agents Buyers Realtors Sellers 421

Housing Wire

AUGUST 3, 2023

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ three-judge panel concurred with a lower district court’s decision that HomeServices is not permitted to enforce arbitration agreements signed by seller clients of franchisees under its authority. billion in commissions they paid to buyers’ agents in the past eight years.

Realtors 370

Realtors Real Estate Sellers Buyers 370

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 3, 2023

As the commission lawsuits heat up, real estate brokers are gearing up to add buyer representation agreements and training, cut costs and hone value propositions, according to RealTrends Q4 2023 BrokerPulse survey. Another 10% are honing their value proposition , particularly as it relates to buyers’ agents.

Real Estate 431

Real Estate Brokerage Agents Training 431

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 15, 2023

A copycat commission lawsuit filed on Thursday by home sellers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accuses 47 real estate industry defendants of allegedly conspiring to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. 13, 2019, and the present and the plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial.

Real Estate 473

Real Estate Realtors Realty Real Estate Agent 473

Housing Wire

MAY 4, 2023

On the one hand, elevated mortgage rates continue to erode buyers’ purchasing power, and in some markets, home prices are falling. Buyer interest has increased over the past few months, but showing activity is still much lower than it would be in a typical spring market. Buyer disappointment. To register, go here.

Housing Market 421

Housing Market Marketing Inventory Buyers 421

Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2024

“The gravamen of Plaintiff’s complaint is that anti-competitive BAREIS MLS rules, which Defendants agreed to, implemented, and enforced, require Class members to make a blanket, unilateral, and effectively non-negotiable offer of buyer broker compensation when listing a property on the BAREIS MLS,” the amended complaint states.

Brokerage 450

Brokerage Realtors Realty Real Estate 450

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Thanks to the efficiencies baked into the construction processes of manufactured homes, these factory-built houses are both faster and less expensive to build than site-built homes, saving buyers between $50,000 to $100,000 per unit. Demand for home-only financing is strong; in 2019, there were more than 200,000 home-only loan applications.

Business 450

Business Finance Buyers Lending 450

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

It all started when mortgage rates jumped from 5.25% to 6.25% this year and I saw how home sellers reacted to that move. housing market that have 2019 inventory levels or higher are off my savagely unhealthy housing market list; those areas see effective pricing as demand gets weaker. Can you blame home sellers?

Mortgage 520

Mortgage Inventory New Listings Sellers 520

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Central to the complaint is NAR’s Participation Rule, which requires listing brokers to make a blanket offer of compensation to buyer brokers in order to list a property on the MLS. “By By enforcing this mandate, the NAR establishes an anticompetitive market where sellers are coerced into subsidizing the buyer’s costs.

Brokerage 432

Brokerage Realty Real Estate Agent Real Estate 432

Housing Wire

MAY 24, 2021

. “With little supply in the market, homes typically sold within 17 days — down from 27 days one year ago, as buyer competition heats up,” NAR said in a statement. “The share of first-time buyers decreased to 31% from 32% in the prior month, and 36% one year ago. 25% of all sales were cash sales, per the report.

Realtors 479

Realtors Buyers Housing Market New Listings 479

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

The writer in the Economist says, “…either the fat fee [real estate commission] inflates the house price, or the buyer ends up paying a similar fee when he or she sells.” This is from the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal, “Ninety percent of transactions offer buyer agent commissions of exactly 3%.”

Real Estate 358

Real Estate Realtors Agents Buyers 358