[ad_1]
Estimated reading time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — With spring home buying season upon us, real estate agent Alicia Holdaway says Utah’s housing market is getting busy.
“We’re seeing multiple offers coming back,” Holdaway told KSL-TV on Monday. “We also started having open houses with dozens of people attending.”
The increase in purchases comes at a time when the real estate industry is undergoing major changes. As KSL reported last week, the National Association of Realtors agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the organization of keeping real estate agent commissions artificially high.
The National Association of Realtors has agreed to pay $418 million to homebuyers who sued over that assumption. The group also needs to change a provision that prohibits seller’s agents from promising compensation to buyer’s agents on sites where homes are listed for sale.
In the future, commissions will need to be negotiated separately.
“The idea that fees should be transparent, at least in my experience, has always been transparent,” said Craig Wagner, general counsel for the Utah Association of Realtors. “They were negotiable.”
Holdaway answered yes.
“It has always been negotiable, but consumers may feel they have more power to negotiate,” she said.
Experts say the settlement could lead to lower agency fees. According to a study by Clever Real Estate, the average salary for Utahns is 4.9%. This equates to approximately $24,581 for a typical home.
“It’s not terrible that agents have to prove their worth and back up their worth in return,” Holdaway said.
But she worries that some buyers may stop using agents because of worries about payments, and that no one is monitoring them.
“It’s not in anyone’s best interest,” Holdaway said.
The settlement also requires real estate agents to enter into contracts with buyers going forward. But the Utah Association of Realtors said it’s already happening in the Beehive State.
“It shouldn’t be a drastic change for Utah,” Wagner said. “We’ve been doing it for decades.”
If the settlement is approved by a judge, the changes are expected to go into effect in mid-July.
Latest articles from Utah
Other stories you might be interested in
[ad_2]
Source link
