A Note on Buyer's Agent Commision and Sales Price

The article examines whether and to what extent the level of a buyer’s agent commission will affect the sale price of a house. The estimation results suggest that a higher commission rate leads to a higher sale price, although only for lower-priced houses. It is suggested that, at least for this market segment, there may be a principal-agent problem: buyer’s agents do not act in the best interest of their clients because of the institutional structure of sales commissions.

Agency Representation and the Sale Price of Houses

Multiple Listing Service data are employed to examine how the type of agency representation influences the sale price of a residential property. The results differ by property size. The type of agency representation is relevant only for some segments of the market, mainly smaller- to medium-sized properties. For a certain range of property sizes, buyers who engage a buyer’s agent pay on average 2% less. However, an above average buyer’s agent commission can more than cancel this price effect. Buyers that engage a buyer’s agent that comes from the same firm as the listing agent never pay more for a house.