Rules that helped set real estate agent commissions are changing. Here’s what you need to know

By ALEX VEIGA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press

The cost of hiring a real estate agent to buy or sell a home may soon change, along with decades-old rules that have helped determine broker commissions. The policy changes could help spur price competition for agents’ services and lower the cost for sellers who typically now cover the commission costs for the buyer’s agent, as well as their own. In turn, more homebuyers could be under pressure to pay for their agent’s commission out of pocket. Housing market watchers say it’s too soon to know for sure how significantly these changes will affect home sales, though a period of adjustment is likely as buyers, sellers and agents figure out how to navigate what comes next.