Historic changes are coming to the housing market this weekend. New rules from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) will transform how realtors get paid and compensated for helping people buy and sell their homes, going into effect on Saturday, August 17. KBW managing director Ryan Tomasello joins Catalysts to discuss how the new regulations could transform the housing market. "Over the long run, this is going to provide a lot more transparency for home shoppers. It's going to allow more agents to compete more heavily on price and quality. But over the near term, I think it's probably going to be a bit of a bumpy road as the market digests these changes in such short order, and also at a time when the housing market itself has a laundry list of complexities around it, from rates to supply," Tomasello explains. In the long-term, Tomasello believes these rules are likely to reduce the friction costs of buying and selling a home, which, in turn, could increase transaction activity. "There's been a lot of chatter amongst the agent community, more and more education on the part of consumers. And so the question becomes if belief creates reality around commissions actually coming down, if both agents think that commissions are coming down and consumers are aware of this new structure, we do think that that puts downward pressure on commissions at the margin over time," he adds. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
