Real Estate Commissions After the NAR Settlement: What You Actually Pay Now

For decades, the working assumption was 'the seller pays 5–6%, split between the agents, and nobody negotiates.' The 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement broke that assumption in two specific ways — and created leverage most buyers and sellers still aren't using.

What actually changed

• Buyer-agent compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS, ending the standing offer that quietly standardized fees.
• Buyers must sign a written agreement spelling out their agent's compensation before touring homes with that agent.

What it means for sellers

You negotiate your listing agent's fee as before — but covering the buyer's agent is now an explicit, negotiable term rather than an assumption. Many sellers still offer it, because it widens the buyer pool and buyer-side costs otherwise come out of the same offer price. The difference: it's a decision now, made deal by deal, and often traded during offer negotiation like any other concession.

What it means for buyers

The buyer agreement is the new negotiation moment. Before signing: negotiate the fee (flat, percentage, or tiered), the term (start short), and the exit clause. Then in offers, decide how the fee gets paid — seller concession, rolled into price, or out of pocket. A good agent will walk you through all three without defensiveness; treat that conversation as part of the interview.

Commissions were always negotiable. The settlement's real change is that the negotiation now happens in writing, up front, when you have the most leverage.

The numbers today

Average total commissions have drifted down since the settlement — typical combined rates now land closer to 5% than 6%, with wide variation by market, price point, and service level. On higher-priced homes, tiered and flat-fee structures are increasingly common. The spread between what informed and uninformed clients pay is the real story: the informed ones ask.