In a move it’s billing as a boon to consumers, Redfin announced Monday that it’s publishing buyer’s agent commissions on over 700,000 home listings across the country, including in Massachusetts.
The information is prominently displayed right below the listing photos next to the list price and buyer’s estimated monthly payment.
The brokerage said it’s now able to publish the info because of an upcoming settlement agreement between the federal Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors. The brokerage and listings website has long listed the commissions its own agents get, but was unable to publish other agents’ commissions until now.
The brokerage also offers to refund its buyers in some markets the difference between the commission a Redfin buyer’s agent makes and that offered by the seller. The average refund was $1,850 in 2019, it said.
“Homebuyers will finally see how much money their agent stands to earn on any home for sale, letting them evaluate whether they’re getting good value for their money,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said in a statement. “On the other side of the deal, people listing their home will find out what other sellers are paying buyers’ agents, without having to take their agents’ word for it. This information could usher in a new era of price competition that saves consumers billions of dollars in fees.”
The brokerage also suggested that the move could help lower costs for buyers. In Seattle, the only market where the local multiple listings service allowed sites like Redfin to publish all buyer’s agent commissions prior to the settlement agreement with NAR, the typical buyer’s brokerage commission declined slightly, from 2.8 percent in 2019 to 2.7 percent in 2020, according to a Redfin analysis of MLS data, which it attributed to Redfin’s publication of the data. Nationally, the average buyer’s brokerage commission remained flat at 2.7 percent over that time period, it said.
“According to a 2019 survey commissioned by Redfin, 61 percent of homebuyers did not fully understand how their agent was paid. This leaves buyers unable to compare agent services and evaluate them on service and price,” the company said in a statement.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors declined to comment on Redfin’s move.
