I am curious to hear what real estate commissions are doing in your area through this current real estate roller coaster. Here in Sarasota, Florida the average real estate commission is on the rise.
When I started selling real estate in 2000 I remember a good mix of 7% and 6% commissions with probably the majority of listings at 7%. Back in 2000 you could purchase a nice starter home for $90,000. It seemed to stay this way from 2000-2003.
Like most areas from 2003 to 2005 we took off. Our prices went through the roof. We, of course, are paying for this now. During those boom years commissions started to dip below 6%. We saw discount brokers pop up everywhere. The market was so good that Realtors had a hard time justifying more than 6% because they were not spending much on advertising and the time it took to sell something was very short. Fewer sellers were willing to pay 6% and more and more Realtors were willing to take them at less than 6% because of the lower costs.
Now, that the market is much slower real estate commissions are rising again. I am seeing a lot of 7% and even a few 8% and 9% commissions. People are trying to separate their homes from the pack by offering a higher commission rate. Realtors can justify the higher rates because the time it takes to sell a property is much longer , more work is involved and more advertising dollars are being spent to market a property.
What are you seeing in your town?
Comments(7)