Estimated damages in Batton commission lawsuit come in at over $10 billion

"In his statement, Miller claims that buyer broker commission rates displayed extreme price rigidity, remaining around the same elevated rates despite inflation and changes in technology that have increased efficiencies and regardless of the agent's experience, hours worked, or tasks performed. Additionally, Miller's statement alleges that NAR's rules, including its now defunct participation rule incentiviz[ed] agents to steer' buyers to particular homes based on the home's commission rate."

"According to her analysis, Abrantes-Metz found the average buyer's agent commission in these foreign markets to be 1.38%, much lower than the typical 3% rate in the U.S. Based on this, Abrantes-Metz estimates that buyers in the proposed class would be entitled to $8,524 damages each due to the allegedly inflated commissions and home prices. For the four MLSs, this would total $3.6 billion in damages."

Norman Miller stated that buyer broker commission rates exhibited extreme price rigidity, remaining at elevated levels despite inflation and technological efficiencies, independent of agent experience, hours, or tasks. Miller alleged that NAR rules, including a now-defunct participation rule, incentiviz[ed] agents to steer' buyers toward homes based on commission rates. Rose M. Abrantes-Metz analyzed transactions across four MLSs and compared U.S. buyer commissions to foreign markets, finding a 1.38% average abroad versus roughly 3% in the U.S. Abrantes-Metz estimated $8,524 damages per buyer, $3.6 billion for the four MLSs, and potentially tens of billions for the full proposed class, while noting the class could shrink substantially if overlapping seller settlements apply, and calculating that 24%–28% of the proposed class did not sell during the Batton class period.

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