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Survey: Realtors' fees are on the rise

February 15, 2010 - Although the economic downturn has led to low prices in the real estate market, many realtors are now charging more for their services, according to new research.

The Baltimore Sun reports that a recent survey from RealTrends found that brokers are raising their fees because the recession has made homes more difficult to sell.

In addition, may real estate agents are dealing with an influx of clients as many home sellers try to find buyers before the government's tax credit program expires.

As a result, these professionals are spending more on website and photo fees for multiple listings, which begs the need for additional funding and higher fees.

However, many agents are not seeing additional compensation from these higher fees, as average commissions for home sales dropped by 6.2 percent from last year.

Researchers attribute this decrease to the fact that a great deal of homebuyers used the tax credit program to purchase their first houses. Because these starter homes tend to be moderately priced, average earnings from each sale were lower than years past.

Prospective buyers can still take advantage of the Federal Housing Tax Credit, which could be worth up to $8,000 for first-time real estate owners, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.

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