Average Commission Rate for REALTORS? 2017 Update
The national average real estate agent commission rates according to RealTrends are:
- 1992 = 6.04%
- 2005 = 5.02%
- 2011 = 5.3%
- 2013 = 5.38%
- 2014 = 5.18%
- 2015 = 5.26%
- 2016 = Final numbers not revealed yet, analysts predict it will drop from 5.26% but remain higher than 5%.*
* From a Washington post article, “based on preliminary data, it’s likely to decline… when the final numbers are tallied for 2016.”
The above information on yearly commission averages comes direct from Real Trends, a real estate industry publishing and consulting firm that obtains transaction data from surveying real estate brokerages.
Portland Commission Averages
The local rates Realtors in Portland charge their clients to list a home are not published. All real estate commission is always negotiable and there is no set standard. I think it is fascinating, with all the Realty companies out there today, the national average commission rate, according to RealTrends, increased from 2014 to 2015. This increase goes against countless news articles pronouncing the inevitable decline of real estate commission rates.
A National Association of Realtor’s 2016 Members Profile highlight shows that the median number of listings a Realtor sold was 5 (representing a seller) and a Realtors median number of sales representing a buyer was also 5.
Our Reasonable Commission Rate
My team is not average, not by any stretch. We were the number #1 listing team in the Portland Metro (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties combined) in 2016 according to the 2016 RMLS sales chart for those counties (our local MLS) with over 250 homes sales. We are able to both charge our clients less than the national commission average and pay more to market our client’s homes. This is because we are very successful at selling our client’s homes and sell a lot, a lot of properties. We charge 4.25% max. (while still offering the buyer’s agent 2.5%) with no extra fees and our clients can cancel anytime (other than in an accepted offer with a buyer) for no charge. We aim for a win-win situation with our clients. We have a stellar 5 out of 5 star client review average on Zillow with well over 100 verified reviews. Read about our full listing package here, or learn about our buyer’s services. Pay less and get more!
