U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Issue Report on Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry
Source: U.S. DoJ/FTC

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today issued a joint report, “Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry.” The purpose of the report is to inform consumers and others involved in the industry about important competition issues involving residential real estate, including the impact of the Internet, the competitive structure of the real estate brokerage industry, and obstacles to a more competitive environment.
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As discussed in the report, the review by the Department and the FTC suggests that, although the real estate industry has undergone a number of substantial changes in recent years — particularly as a result of technological advances such as the Internet — competition in the industry has been hindered as a result of actions taken by some real estate brokers acting through multiple listing services and the National Association of Realtors, state legislatures, and state real estate commissions. In addition, consumers likely would benefit significantly from additional knowledge about the range of options available in brokerage services and fees.

+ Full Report (PDF; 3.2 MB)
+ Transcripts and written submissions from related workshop

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Business and economics, Consumer issues, Housing and real estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.