“We believe this is a significant blow to real estate agents, but we believe this is far from over. There are more battles to be fought,” she wrote. “This is the first domino to fall, but the National Association of Realtors is still on the hook.”
Brokerage firms that decided to settle before the trial said they were satisfied with their decision.
“The settlement releases our company, our affiliated agents and franchisees from liability related to these claims. While the jury’s verdict is disappointing, it does not change our settlement,” Trey Sarten, a spokesman for Anywhere Real Estate, said in an emailed statement.
Those who had lost previous court battles with NAR celebrated.
Jack Ryan, the chief executive of REX Real Estate, which lost an antitrust case against NAR, Zillow and Trulia in August, was vocal about lower commissions. In a text message Tuesday, he hailed the ruling as “extremely good news for Americans.”
If commissions can be reduced, “the price of every home will fall, jobs and wages will increase, tax revenues will increase, people can easily move on to better and more fulfilling jobs,” he wrote.
Further lawsuits are now imminent. Just minutes after receiving the ruling on Tuesday, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed another class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missouri. The case, filed on behalf of three new home sellers, also alleges that the practice of having home sellers pay sales commissions to buyer agents violates the Sherman Antitrust Act. NAR and several major brokerage firms are named as defendants, including Compass, eXp World Holdings, Redfin and Douglas Elliman.