Prof. Prentiss Cox ’90 Quoted in Star Tribune About Upcoming Changes in Real Estate Commissions

Professor Prentiss Cox ’90 was quoted in the Star Tribune about changes to the real estate industry starting Aug. 17. Due to a class-action lawsuit, new rules will go into effect for real estate transactions that include home buyers needing to sign a representation agreement with an agent before seeing a home for sale, and Realtors can no longer advertise their compensation on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The lawsuit against the the National Association of Realtors alleged buyers and sellers had been paying their Realtors too much. Prof. Cox said it remains to be seen whether it’ll now cost less to buy and sell a home. The current commission structure, he said, has been difficult to upend in part because of what he calls persistent “collusive practices” that force buyers and sellers in the U.S. to pay 5% to 6% to sell a home, not including other fees, while the rest of the world pays roughly half that.