A new CFA report found that homebuyers haven’t been deterred by agent fees, but affordability remains a problem, and “pocket listings” are an emerging threat.
Key points:
- The Consumer Federation of America and National Urban League found that contrary to earlier expectations, commissions have not declined in the wake of the NAR settlement.
- The organizations argued that the rise in pocket listings is a growing risk to first-time, low-income and Black homebuyers that “cannot be ignored.”
- Saving for a down payment remains a key hurdle for first-time buyers, even when assistance programs are available.
After the National Association of Realtors suffered a loss in the Sitzer/Burnett commissions trial and agreed to settle with the homeseller plaintiffs, many consumer advocates believed agent fees would come down. Instead, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) reports, not only have commissions seen little movement, homebuyers now face new barriers to housing.
According to a study released April 16 by the CFA in partnership with the National Urban League, real estate agent commissions have not significantly decreased, first-time homebuyers still face affordability challenges and consumers are unable to access all available listings.
To assess the state of homebuying in the wake of the NAR settlement, researchers surveyed 223 housing counselors across 37 states in July and August 2025, roughly a year after industry rule changes took effect. Housing counselors are HUD-trained individuals who provide guidance to first-time buyers and other homebuyer clients.
Some expected outcomes didn’t happen — but ‘worrisome trends are emerging’
The report’s findings show that two anticipated outcomes of the settlement haven’t come to pass: Commission fees are relatively unchanged, disappointing some consumer advocates. On the other hand, a concern raised by several advocacy groups — that the burden of paying buyer-agent fees could lock first-time or underserved buyers out of the market — appears to be unfounded.
Still, “new worrisome trends are emerging, including the rise of anti-competitive ‘pocket listings’ and the Administration’s threat to cut all funding for housing counselors, which could reduce fair access to homeownership,” Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing at the CFA, said in a statement.
Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial echoed Cornelissen’s concerns, adding that such trends “threaten to usher in a new form of redlining,” especially for Black homebuyers. “Homeownership remains the primary driver of wealth in this country. We cannot reach equity without protecting the pathways that allow every family, in every community, to own a home,” Morial said.
Why commissions haven’t fallen
Decoupling buyer and seller agent commissions, proponents argued, could lead to lower overall commissions for the benefit of consumers. But one year after the settlement went into effect, no meaningful change in commissions was reported, according to the CFA.
Only 7% of housing counselors surveyed said their first-time buyer clients paid lower commissions compared to clients seen a year earlier. More than a third (36%) believed commissions had held steady or increased from the year before, while 28% were neutral.
The report attributed these findings to a lack of negotiation between homebuyers and their agents and to limitations inherent in the settlement, which still allows buyer and seller agents to communicate about commission rates as long as it is not done through the MLS.
Compensation changes haven’t deterred purchases
The study’s second primary finding was that the new commission rules rarely prevented a home purchase from going through. Only 9% of counselors said a home purchase “often” or “always” failed because a homebuyer couldn’t afford their agent’s commission, while 47% of counselors said such occurrences happened “never” or “rarely.”
Those results are particularly illuminating given that only 26% of survey respondents said sellers “often” or “always” cover the buyer’s agent commission — suggesting that buyers are frequently responsible for the fees, and that listing agents are likely educating their clients about the post-settlement rule changes.
Other challenges remain
Determined buyers may be getting to the closing table, but the study found that affordability and access to listings were significant challenges for many first-time buyers.
Saving for a down payment was the biggest hurdle for those buyers, with 88% of counselors reporting it was “very difficult” or “difficult” for their clients. Some counselors reported that even if clients received down payment assistance, the cost of owning a home was prohibitive due to other financial issues including low credit scores, car loans and student loan debt.
Finding the right house to meet their needs was the second-most common challenge first-time buyers faced, with 73% of counselors reporting this was “very difficult” or “difficult” for their clients. Low inventory has contributed to this challenge, the report noted.
Pocket listings, which were equated with “office exclusives, private listings, or exclusive listings” in the report, were also highlighted as an emerging threat to fair access to housing. Such listings represent a small — but growing — share of all listings, the report noted, citing Bright MLS’s February 2025 study that showed 8% of the platform’s listings started as office exclusives, up from a historical average of 2%-4%.
Though “not necessarily a ubiquitous problem,” pocket listings “cannot be ignored,” the study said. Counselors reported that 46% of their clients “sometimes,” “often” or “always” had difficulty finding homes because of pocket listings, while 20% “rarely” did. Only 11% of respondents reported that clients were “never” affected by pocket listings.
More transparency around brokerage fees, pocket listings needed
The CFA closes its report with policy recommendations to address pain points related to the study’s main findings:
-
The Federal Housing Finance Agency should collect and make publicly available data about brokerage fees, which consumers could access through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database or through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
-
State attorney general offices and fair housing centers should monitor pocket listings in their region for “potentially discriminatory impacts.”
-
HUD should continue funding and training housing counselors across the country because of their work as independent and unbiased advisors to first-time and low-income buyers.
“The industry remains resistant to allowing a broader set of changes that increase consumer choice and competition,” the report concludes. “The worrisome growth in pocket listings indicates the need for a broader cultural shift in how real estate agents work with consumers. This shift can only be achieved with pro-consumer policy and proactive regulation.”