A year after the National Association of Realtors settlement, the effects on buyer agent commissions appear minimal.
According to a new analysis by economists at the brokerage Redfin, the average U.S. buyer’s agent commission was 2.43 percent for homes sold in the second quarter, up from 2.38 percent a year earlier. It was the third consecutive quarter that commissions increased after the new NAR rules went into effect in August of 2024.
“Since the NAR settlement, there has been a lot more discussion about commissions with clients, and more sellers are trying to counter with a lower commission rate, but in most cases, in today’s market, the buyer can stay firm,” Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier real estate agent said in a statement released with the analysis.
The Redfin analysis also broke down agent commissions by price tier, with the average commission for a home that sold under $500,000 hitting 2.52 percent in the second quarter, up from 2.42 percent a year earlier. For homes between $500,000 and $1 million, the average commission was 2.34 percent, up from 2.31 percent a year ago.
Agent commissions for homes priced above $1 million were the only ones to drop, falling from 2.24 percent in the second quarter of 2024 to 2.21 percent in the second quarter of 2025.
Along with Redfin, Clever Real Estate reported in June that the average national total real estate agent commission rate is 5.44 percent, up from 5.32 percent last year. New Hampshire is in the middle of the pack for agent fees, nationally. Clever reported the typical buyer’s agent commission is 2.53 percent while the typical seller’s agent commission is 2.76 percent.
That puts the state’s overall commission rate of 5.29 percent on par with Vermont and Maine, and notably lower than Massachusetts’ 5.53 percent.
But Anywhere Real Estate CEO Ryan Schneider reported in its first-quarter earnings call that the average home sale commission rate was down two basis points annually to 2.41 percent at Anywhere’s franchise segment, which includes brands like Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International Realty, and down six basis points to 2.35 percent at its owned brokerage segment, Anywhere Advisors.
Despite the decrease in commission rates, Anywhere’s gross commission income in the first quarter rose to $976 million, up nearly $70 million from 2024. Additionally, the gross commission income per side for agents who are part of the owned brokerage segment was up 10 percent annually to $19,720.
“I do think there’s something about the savvy buyer and seller, maybe being a little more sophisticated and maybe negotiating a bit harder, but on the flip side, when you’re doing doing $10 to $50 million deals, there historically has always been a lot of commission negotiation happening, so I’m probably not that surprised by it,” Schneider said during the April earnings call.
