Fact vs. Fiction: One Year After the NAR Lawsuit
Spoiler: buyers still want agents, sellers still cover fees.
You’ve probably seen the headlines over the past year about how the National Association of Realtors (NAR) lost a lawsuit, which shook up the rules around how buyers pay their agents. If you missed it, no worries. Just know it was HUGE real estate news last fall. And like any big change, the media jumped on it with dramatic takes like “buying and selling homes will never be the same.”
Well… here we are one year later. So let’s check in together (because that’s what I’m here for, to keep you in the loop). No scare tactics, no fine print, just the real deal on what’s happened since.
What we were told vs. what’s actually happened
Fiction: With every listing online, buyers wouldn’t need (or want) an agent anymore.
Reality: The internet didn’t replace us. Office exclusives and off-market listings are still very real and only accessible through agents. Zillow can’t get you everything (no matter how hard they try). Plus, let’s be honest: finding the house is the easy part. It’s everything that comes after (offers, inspections, negotiations, timelines) where buyers lean on us the most.
Fiction: Buyers would ditch representation to save money.
Reality: Nope. The numbers haven’t budged. 86–88% of buyers are still working with an agent, and over 90% say the process would be way too stressful without one. So much for that prediction.
Fiction: Buyers would suddenly have to pay their agents’ fees fully out of pocket.
Reality: Commissions have always been negotiable. And sellers are still covering the majority of buyer-agent fees. Translation? Most buyers are paying little to nothing extra for representation, even after the rule change.
Fiction: Sellers would stop offering co-op fees to buyer agents.
Reality: Sellers know better. Covering buyer-agent commissions is still one of the best ways to attract buyers and sell quickly. That hasn’t changed, and it’s not trending down.
What about fees overall?
The lawyers behind the lawsuit promised that commissions would drop and buyers would save billions. Sounds nice in theory… but in practice?
2024 average commission: ~5.32% (2.58% to the buyer’s agent)
2025 average commission: ~5.44% (2.67% to the buyer’s agent)
So commissions went up. Buyers didn’t save billions. The only ones who cashed out? The lawyers… to the tune of $300+ million.
My take and what I’ve seen up close…
Buyers still want representation (same as always).
Sellers still know that covering those costs helps bring serious buyers to the table.
And let’s be real: with today’s mortgage rates, record-high home prices, and the laundry list of closing costs buyers are already juggling, offering an incentive is just good business.
At the end of the day, the lawsuit made headlines, but it didn’t rewrite the playbook. The promises of “billions saved” never hit consumers’ pockets. Like they say: the song may change, but the melody stays the same.
Want to talk about how this all actually plays out in our local market? Shoot me a message anytime. I’m here to cut through the noise and keep you moving confidently toward your next home.
XO - Gee
