The National Association of Realtors (NAR) last Friday announced a settlement whereby it will pay out $468 million and eliminate its practice of charging a standard six percent commission for transactions. If the agreement gains court approval, Â agents will be able to compete for business by offering to take smaller commissions.
One expert described the change on practice as an industry earthquake, and a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin predicted it would transform the $160-billion-a-year real-estate industry. Real-estate stocks were down at the news.
There’s a more local earthquake, one that has been a long time coming. The New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) has been attributing the relatively slow market in this state on high interest rates and a low inventory of homes for sale. The data shows higher sale prices in some counties compensating in dollar volume for low supply.Â
In the state as a whole, the NYSAR counties for which data is available reported a state median residential sales price of $365,000 in 2023 and $400,000 in 2024, a 9.6 percent increase. Ulster County’s reported median sales price was $345,000 in 2023 and $420,000 in 2024, a gain of 21.7 percent. Dutchess County was not far behind, with the median residence selling for $371,250 on 2023 and $423,000 in 2024, up a healthy 13.9 percent.
Median Ulster County residences have historically been selling for between a range of 15 to 30 percent below the state median price. For the county market to have catapulted from below the state number to well above it in a single year is a noteworthy development. Â A continued increase would require explanation.
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