The NAR settlement, explained for Bay Area sellers

The National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement resolving antitrust claims about how real estate commissions were set and disclosed. Money aside, the meaningful part was a set of practice changes that took effect in August 2024 and still govern how listings work today.

The claims centered on a structural point: that the customary practice of advertising buyer-agent compensation through the MLS kept commissions artificially uniform, because sellers effectively pre-committed to paying the buyer's agent before ever meeting a buyer.

First, offers of buyer-agent compensation came off the MLS. Listing agents can no longer enter a buyer-agent commission — 2.5%, 3%, any figure — into MLS fields or data feeds. Compensation can still be offered and paid; it just cannot be advertised there.

Second, written buyer representation agreements became mandatory. An agent using an MLS must have a signed agreement with a buyer before touring a home, and that agreement has to state the agent's compensation specifically and conspicuously. Buyers now see the number in writing, up front, before the tour.

Compensation is now negotiated twice, at two different tables. The buyer negotiates it with their own agent when they sign a representation agreement. Then you encounter it again when you review offers, because a buyer may ask you to cover some or all of their agent's fee as a term of their offer.

In practice, many sellers in competitive markets still end up contributing to buyer-agent compensation, because refusing outright can narrow your buyer pool. The change isn't that you stopped paying. It's that you now decide, per offer, with the number in front of you — rather than committing to a percentage months earlier as a condition of listing.

The honest assessment a year-plus on: commissions became more explicitly negotiated, not automatically cheaper. Reporting since the settlement has found buyer-agent compensation holding steadier than many predicted. The leverage is real, but you have to use it.

Listing-side commission was never the target and remains fully negotiable, exactly as it was before. The MLS still requires a licensed agent to enter a listing. Your disclosure obligations are untouched. And nothing in the settlement obliges any agent to lower a fee.

What changed is the default. The old structure made a bundled percentage the path of least resistance. The current one makes every component a decision — which is precisely the opening for hiring licensed help task by task instead of as a package.