NAR Settlement 18 Months Later: Buyer Agent Commissions Went Up, Not Down — Here's Why

# NAR Settlement 18 Months Later: Buyer Agent Commissions Went Up, Not Down — Here's Why

> **Quick answer:** The NAR's landmark $418 million settlement promised to shake up real estate commissions — and it did, just not in the direction most people expected. Buyer agent fees initially dipped after August 2024, then rebounded to 2.82% by 2026, above their post-settlement low. Two new, more serious problems have emerged: a surge in anti-competitive "pocket listings" and threats to housing counselor funding that experts call "a new form of redlining." Where you land on this news depends a lot on how you handle financial complexity and uncertainty.

When the National Association of Realtors settled its landmark antitrust lawsuit for $418 million in March 2024, the promise was straightforward: homebuyers would gain negotiating power over commissions, and the old 6% model would finally crack. Eighteen months later, the NAR settlement buyer agent commission data tells a different story — and the real disruption isn't what anyone predicted.

## The $418M Promise: What Was Supposed to Change

The NAR settlement took effect August 17, 2024, with two core rule changes that restructured how American real estate works.

First, sellers' agents can no longer advertise buyer's agent compensation on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). For decades, sellers automatically covered both their own agent's fee and the buyer's agent fee — a bundled structure that critics argued artificially inflated total commission costs and removed transparency.