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Now a year out from the national agent commissions settlement, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors has seen a drop in membership.
Between 2024 and 2025, MAR membership decreased from about 27,000 to roughly 23,500, a 7.7 percent drop, the trade group said this week in response to an inquiry from Banker & Tradesman.
Prior to the settlement, some experts had predicted that its terms could force the less effective and part-time members from the profession out if it succeeded in lowering commission rates. However, several pieces of research released in recent months suggest that commission rates have largely stayed put or even risen at the national level.
MAR CEO Theresa Hatton said she believes the state of the real estate industry in general had an impact, including the housing shortage in Massachusetts.
“The housing crisis in Massachusetts has been going on for years now,” she said in a statement. Although there is legislative progress in helping to foster more development, there are still not enough homes/dwellings to accommodate the demand. As most real estate professionals earn their living based upon their sales, with less sales taking place, many have left the industry to find a more regular stream of income.”
Roughly 10,000 fewer residential properties traded hands statewide last year compared to 2019, a 14.03 percent drop year-over-year according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman
Much of Massachusetts could still see movement on commission rates, however, as a settlement in a separate lawsuit against the state’s biggest multiple listings service, MLS PIN, only went into effect in September.
The National Association of Realtors recently announced a new policy that removes the requirement of NAR membership in order to gain access to multiple listing services owned by Realtor associations.
Additionally, the organization passed a new rule that said Realtors must disclose to their own client or clients only when compensated by more than one party. The practical result is that there is no obligation to disclose the contents of a buyer-broker agreement to sellers or their brokers if compensation is paid by a combination of both sides of the transaction.
As of May 31, there were 1.45 million members in the national organization. Membership stood at 1,526,631 as of Oct. 31.
