The typical American home seller pays a 2.55% commission to the real estate agent hired by their home’s buyer. That’s down from an average of 2.62% in January, before the NAR settlement was announced in March.
This is according to Redfin, which analyzed MLS data of rolling four-week periods through July 14. The analysis includes listings that offer a commission to the buyer’s agent and excludes listings that offer no commission or for which the commission field is missing.
Some highlights:
In dollar terms, the average commission paid to a buyer’s agent in the U.S. is $15,377, up slightly from $15,124 in January, attributed to the uptick in home prices.
Per Redfin, the average percent commission paid to buyer’s agents has steadily come down since the NAR settlement was announced, though the decrease is small and the dollar amount paid to buyer’s agents has held steady.
Also, buyer’s agent commissions had already been in decline, falling from an average of 2.89% in 2013 to 2.66% in 2023. This would appear to mark a change from 2022, when RealTrends reported that overall commission rates reached their highest point since 2013 at 5.32%.
In examining the largest 50 metropolitan statistical areas in the country, Redfin found that commission percentages have declined most in Detroit since the NAR settlement. The average commission paid to a buyer’s agent there was 2.87% during the four weeks ending July 14, down from 3.18% in January. Cleveland (2.39%, down from 2.62%) and Miami (2.63%, down from 2.84%) followed.
Commission percentages are highest in Austin, TX (2.99%), Cincinnati (2.95%) and San Antonio (2.91%). They’re lowest in Nassau County, NY (1.95%), Providence, RI (2.05%), and Anaheim, CA (2.11%).
Cincinnati is an interesting one. Commissions actually increased to 2.95% from 2.93%. They held steady in New Brunswick, NJ (2.15%) and the Philadelphia suburbs of Montgomery County (2.44%).
Buyer agent commissions are down to 2.11% in Anaheim and 2.20% in San Diego, markets with extremely low inventory levels and high prices.
The full list is below.
