Speculation continues to swirl about what Judge Stephen Baugh’s final ruling on the Sitzer/Barnett Commission case will be and how it will affect the industry.
Thanks to both provisions anywhere and RE/MAX In addition to the settlement agreement, redfin’s Announcement requesting cancellation from agency National Association of Realtors Much of the speculation about membership numbers focuses on what will happen to NAR’s 1.5 million members.
Some estimate that the trade association’s membership could drop by nearly 1 million people, but many doubt that will happen since some MLSs require NAR members to access their platforms. I believe it will not happen.
Real trend consulting Co-founder Steve Murray takes a more conservative view of how the settlement will affect NAR members.
“I think it’s a matter of inertia,” Murray said. “Certainly there are many places in the United States where you have to be a real estate agent to access a real estate agent-owned and operated MLS. And functionally, in places like Washington state, you don’t have to be a real estate agent to access the MLS. Well, last I checked, Colorado still has a record number of real estate agent members. At last check, there are still 162,000 real estate agent members in California.”
chip stella land vest The broker is part of the camp that thinks the brokerage rules no longer require NAR members, which will affect membership numbers, but he doesn’t know how big that will be.
“Maintaining MLS access is important if we want to continue serving our clients,” Stella says. “The fact is, I still believe in our organization. I don’t think I’m going to change my affiliation.”
Despite asking agents to cancel their NAR memberships, Redfin also acknowledged that in some regions agents may be required to maintain their memberships to continue operating.
“Roughly half of the United States, including cities such as Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Long Island, Minneapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City, requires membership in the NAR, so you can choose to use the NAR individually or collectively. Agents have access to a listing database, lockbox, and industry-standard contracts,” wrote Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. letter Shared on the company’s website. “It’s impossible to be an agent if you can’t see which homes are for sale, unlock the door to a home, or even write an offer.”
Industry analyst Rob Hahn doesn’t think it’s a truly substantive move for brokerages to announce their departure from NAR, since MLS access is required in some cases.
“Redfin’s bold and brave letter is largely symbolic. But on its own…it won’t have much of an impact,” Hahn wrote in the Oct. 2 issue of his book. Notorious R.O.B. e-mail magazine. “Actually, I don’t even know if Redfin won’t renew his Realtor membership in 2024 because there’s some kind of obligation.”
RE/MAX executives said the company’s settlement agreements in the Sitzer/Barnett, Mehl and Nosarek commission cases no longer require agents and brokers to be affiliated with NAR. Franchisor leaders believe that current housing market conditions will have a greater impact on NAR membership than the terms of the settlement.
“We’re seeing some retirements,” Nick Bailey, president of RE/MAX, told investors and analysts at a company press conference. “There are some companies that needed another good market that would have kept them in business a little longer than the people who are exiting now.” Announcement of financial results for the third quarter of 2023 on Friday.
He continued: “We’ve had a lot of new licensees come into the business over the last few years, some of them team members, but when downsizing happens, there just isn’t enough volume to support that many agents. ” , what we are seeing is that the total number of agents in the industry is decreasing. ”
In addition to the potential impact of the settlement agreement on NAR membership, the unknown nature of Mr. Baugh’s injunction could reduce NAR membership and drive more agencies out of business nationally. There is.
Many believe that if Mr. Baugh’s injunction halts all cooperative compensation offers, the number of buyer agents will decline because fewer homebuyers will likely pay for these services upfront. There is.
“This is a sales business,” Stella said. “If you have x number of units you need to sell to support your family and pay your mortgage, and your business as a buyer agent suddenly drops by 25%, you’re going to be affected.”