Real estate commissions once again are at the center of debate.

A recent "60 Minutes" television segment on commissions and a report issued jointly by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have prompted dialogue around the questions, "Are real estate commissions too high?" and "Does the industry create artificial barriers to lowering them?" While some forms of discounted real estate services have been around for decades, the Internet has enabled some brokerage firms to instill efficiencies, which they say allows them to cut costs and pass savings onto consumers. But critics within the industry argue that these efficiencies many times are at their expense. Many discount firms, they say, are able to cut costs by shoving the workload onto the agent working the opposite side of the deal. Further complicating the debate is a lack of information about commission rates, and recent data indicates the median income of Realtors has decreased. In this three-part special report, Inman News looks at recent research on commissions, the mystery around what agents and brokers can and cannot legally discuss, and how the new discount entrants are collaborating up to add pressure to price.
In Part 1, "Critics come down on commissions,"
Every few years, commissions come under the spotlight and Inman News looks at issues some have raised as inefficiencies in traditional commission models.
In Part 2, "'Mum' is sometimes the word with commissions,"
stringent laws around what constitutes price-fixing often have industry participants saying nothing at all when it comes to talk about compensation. This article looks at what industry participants can and cannot discuss regarding commissions, which can complicate debates over pricing.
In Part 3, "Discount brokerages band together,"
if big discount brokers are grabbing the headlines, that doesn’t mean they have a lock on the discount commission market. In Wisconsin, independent discount brokers have devised a way to band together and share marketing costs, raising their visibility to consumers without giving up their autonomy. This part looks at this group and others forming around the country.

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