What’s changing in Utah’s housing market after real estate lawsuit settlement
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SALT LAKE CITY — The spring home buying season is here, and realtor Alicia Holdaway says Utah’s housing market is getting busy.
“We’re seeing multiple offers come back,” Holdaway told KSL-TV on Monday. “We’re seeing open houses with dozens of people through them again.”
The pickup in buying comes at a time when the real estate world is undergoing a major shakeup. As KSL reported last week, the National Association of Realtors has agreed to settle lawsuits accusing the organization of keeping real estate agent commissions artificially high.
The National Association of Realtors has agreed to pay $418 million to home buyers who have sued over that premises. The group also has to change its rules to prohibit seller’s agents from promising compensation for buyer’s agents on the site where homes are listed for sale.
Commissions will now have to be negotiated separately.
“The idea that commissions should be transparent — at least from my experience — they have,” said Kreg Wagner, general counsel at the Utah Association of Realtors. “They have been negotiable.”
Holdaway echoed that.
“It’s always been negotiable,” she said, “but the consumer may feel more empowered to negotiate.”
Experts say this