Released: June 09, 2007

Return of the full real estate commission

Source: Kenneth R. Harney, Washington Post

The tough market for home sales may be spurring a surprise side effect on real estate commissions: For the first time in years, the average commission rate on closed sales nationwide rose slightly last year.

According to a review of revenue and cost data from hundreds of brokerages by the industry publication Real Trends, the average commission rose by nearly one-fifth of a percentage point last year, to just under 5.2 percent. That turnaround came despite the growing number of real estate firms that offer discounted standard commissions or limited-service options in which consumers pay lower fees but perform some of the tasks traditionally handled by full-service real estate agents.

Although a study released this week by the Consumer Federation of America found that many Americans are not aware that real estate commissions are negotiable, they are. 

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