May 19, 2025

Last spring, the National Association of Realtors reached a settlement in a big class-action lawsuit that many people thought might mean a seismic shift in how the home buying and selling process worked — namely that sellers might not continue to pay buyers’ agents’ commissions the way they have for years. 

But it turns out, very little has changed. Buyers’ agents are still making about the same amount on commissions now as they were before the new rules went into effect, according to a new study from Redfin. And most are still being paid the same way: by the seller. 

Eva Davis closes roughly 50 deals a year for homes in and around Washington, D.C. For about half of those, she’s representing the buyer.

“I don’t think I’ve had any where the seller wasn’t willing to pay commission. Even when I’m in a competitive situation, which I often am, my commission has still been paid by the seller,” said Davis.

Occasionally, she said, sellers will float the idea of only covering part of the buyer’s agent commission. But in the end, they almost always pay in full.

“Because they don’t want to take a discount on the price, they don’t want the buyer to not put in as high of an escalation clause and a buyer can’t finance their agent’s commission. So it’s just a lot bigger of a hardship on a buyer to pay it,” said Davis.

And if sellers of comparable homes are offering to pay it, it’s hard to opt out. 

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, said the real estate industry is also resistant to change.

“So I think it’s really hard to break free of the status quo, because it just makes it easier when everyone is kind of following the same norms,” said Fairweather.

Plus, the market is just slow right now. Tiffany Russell, a broker in Austin, Texas, said that benefits buyers.

“Now, if we were in a different market, say, back in COVID, where we didn’t even have to put a sign in the yard, I think we’d be having a different conversation about that compensation piece,” said Russell.

During the height of the pandemic, almost every house was getting multiple offers over asking.

“So in that scenario, we could tell the buyer the buyer would have to cover their agent compensation,” said Russell.

But, she said, that’s not the market we’re in.

Housingby Samantha Fields