Real estate agents and US housing experts have had the date circled on their calendars for months: Aug. 17, when the terms of a class-action settlement over industry compensation practices will take effect.
The changes laid out in the agreement are technical, revolving around paperwork consumers complete at the beginning of the buying or selling process, and they add new wrinkles to an already complicated undertaking. Agents currently command a 5% or 6% fee that gets divvied up between both sides, but the rules are poised to shift power away from them, and drive down commissions over time.