Realtor commissions haven’t significantly fallen after a settlement with the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, a new study shows. Consumers had hope the $418 million settlement would address long-standing frustrations over cost and transparency when buying and selling a home.
On Aug. 17, 2024, all realtors were required to follow new rules agreed on by the settlement with the NAR of a class action lawsuit.
Two big changes: First, sellers were no longer be required to compensate buyer agents. Second, buyers were required to sign contracts that set the amount of compensation that buyers will owe their agents.
“More than a year after the NAR settlement, the predicted changes have not materialized: changed Realtor commission rules have neither lowered costs for consumers, nor blocked first-time homebuyers from entering the market,” Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America, or CFA, said in a statement.
To understand how the NAR settlement has impacted first-time homebuyers, CFA and National Urban League surveyed 223 housing counselors from 37 states in July and August 2025 and conducted nine interviews.
In addition to finding the new rules for realtors aren’t producing the savings to consumers expected, researchers also found first-time homebuyers continue to face broader affordability challenges and “pocket listings,” an anti-competitive real estate practice in which homes are privately marketed to a select group of agents and buyers instead of being publicly listed, are an emerging threat to fair access and transparency in the housing market.
The report calls for policy action to improve transparency in realtor fees and housing listings and to expand support for homebuyers. It recommends that the Federal Housing Finance Agency collect and make available data on brokerage fees through sources such as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database or through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
It also urges State Attorneys General and Fair Housing Centers to closely monitor the potentially discriminatory impacts of “pocket listings” by brokerages.
In addition, the report calls on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue fully funding and training housing counselors nationwide and to recognize housing counselors as unique, unbiased advisors who play a critical role in helping first-time homebuyers navigate an increasingly complex housing market.
