Short answer: Broker commissions are not set by law and never have been — the NAR settlement practice changes effective August 17, 2024 require that disclosure in writing. We charge a 2.5% seller-paid listing commission. Against Berkeley's $1,509,179 median sale price for the three months ending June 2026, per Redfin, that is roughly $37,700 for the listing side. The buyer's side is now a separate negotiation.
Nobody sets this rate, including us
Commissions are negotiable, and the industry is now required to tell you so in writing.
Under the National Association of Realtors settlement practice changes effective August 17, 2024, an MLS Participant must have a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home, and that agreement must specify and conspicuously disclose the compensation amount or rate, state that the participant may not receive more than the amount agreed to, and disclose that broker commissions are not set by law. Separately, offers of compensation are no longer permitted on the MLS. Seller concessions may still appear there, and compensation can still be negotiated off-MLS — but a listing broker publishing a co-op rate to the buyer-broker field is gone.
This is settled, not pending: final approval came November 26, 2024 in the Western District of Missouri, NAR's share $418 million over four years, affirmed by the Eighth Circuit on August 19, 2026 in Burnett v. Spring Way Center, LLC, No. 24-3444.
What the listing side actually produces
A rate by itself tells you nothing; the deliverables attached to it do. Here is what our 2.5% listing engagement covers.
Category | Included |
|---|---|
Visual production | Professional photography, videography, aerial and neighborhood photography, 3D Matterport, floor plans |
Property marketing | Individual property website, brochures, custom maps, signage, market data visualization |
Distribution | Social media, dedicated PR and marketing team, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World |
Live selling | Open houses, broker's tours |
Pricing | Hyper-local pricing technology |
Preparation | Property preparation advisership and coordination |
Transaction | Dedicated transaction coordinator, digital signing and disclosure processing |
When you interview an agent, ask which of those lines they produce themselves, which they bill back at closing, and which are not offered. The answers vary far more than the rate does. The full list is on our listing representation page; the sequencing and lead times are in how we prepare an East Bay listing.
What 2.5% is in dollars where you live
These are Redfin's medians for the three months ending June 2026, one methodology across every row, with the listing side at 2.5% calculated from each.
Market | Median sale price | Listing side at 2.5% | Days on market | Share sold above list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Piedmont | $3,198,260 | $79,957 | 13 | 91.3% |
Berkeley | $1,509,179 | $37,729 | 15 | 83.1% |
Albany | $1,484,192 | $37,105 | 16 | 75.2% |
Alameda | $1,184,855 | $29,621 | 17 | 70.3% |
El Cerrito | $1,179,358 | $29,484 | 14 | 90.4% |
Oakland | $898,511 | $22,463 | 20 | 68.5% |
San Leandro | $888,017 | $22,200 | 15 | 69.5% |
Richmond | $649,646 | $16,241 | 17 | 64.0% |
Contra Costa County | $842,623 | $21,066 | 18 | 49.9% |
The same percentage is a $16,241 job in Richmond and a $79,957 job in Piedmont, while the production work does not scale with price in anything like that proportion — a fair thing to raise in a negotiation. Note too that the share selling above list runs from 49.9% in Contra Costa County to 91.3% in Piedmont, so pricing strategy does real work here. The mechanics are in why East Bay homes sell over asking.
The buyer's side is now its own conversation
Since offers of compensation left the MLS, what the buyer's agent is paid is a term of the deal rather than a published number. In California the buyer's obligation to pay their own broker is established in the C.A.R. Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement (BRBC). If the buyer wants the seller to cover part of it, that comes through the Seller Payment to Buyer's Broker form (SPBB), used with paragraph 3G(3) of the purchase agreement — negotiated offer by offer.
The only figure we can responsibly cite is Redfin's: an average U.S. buyer's agent commission of 2.42% in Q3 2025, up from 2.36% in Q3 2024, published December 8, 2025. By tier it was 2.52% under $500,000, 2.32% from $500,000 to $999,999, and 2.22% at $1 million and above — the band that covers Piedmont, Berkeley, Albany, Alameda and El Cerrito, though not Oakland, San Leandro, Richmond or Contra Costa County as a whole.
The methodology matters: that comes from Redfin's own transaction book, sales of Redfin agents' listings plus referred deals. It is a convenience sample, not a census, and it is national. We could not verify any California or East Bay average commission figure from a credible source, so we will not publish one. Ask anyone quoting a precise local average where it came from.
A buyer-side contribution is a concession, and it trades against price, terms and certainty. Model it against the offer in front of you rather than treating it as fixed. On anything touching the contract's legal effect, confirm with a real estate attorney.
Why a lower rate is not automatically a better deal
A lower rate is not evidence of a worse agent and a higher one is not evidence of a better one. Commission is an input; the output is the net proceeds check and the days you carried the house. The questions that separate one proposal from another: which deliverables above are produced, and by whom? Who handles the point-of-sale compliance items — sewer lateral certificate, Berkeley's energy requirement, Oakland's sidewalk certificate — and are those costs inside the fee or billed to you? Who negotiates when the buyer comes back after inspections asking for a credit? A discounted rate on a listing that gets photographed, posted and left alone costs more than a full one on a listing that gets sold. Seven questions that matter when choosing a listing agent goes further.
How we are set up
Our team is nine people: three real estate advisors and six dedicated specialists in finance, mortgage, insurance, estate planning and renovation, 60-plus years combined, including a Certified Financial Planner™ and Chartered Financial Analysts®. Most sellers assemble that cast themselves, one referral at a time, and the pieces never talk to each other. Here they are already in the room, and the consultations are complimentary.
On results we state only what we can attribute. In 2025 the team's sales stats placed it in the top 1.5% of agents nationwide, and in 2025 it was named one of the Top Producing Teams at Red Oak Realty out of 120-plus agents. Cumulative career volume is over $1 billion. Our listings have averaged 15 days on market by our own reporting — a historical figure, not a current one and not a promise about your house.
To run the arithmetic on your own property — commission, compliance costs and everything else that comes out at closing — start with a home valuation.
Frequently asked questions
Is 2.5% a normal listing commission in the East Bay?
We cannot tell you what is normal, because no verified California or East Bay average commission figure exists and we will not repeat one we cannot source. What we can say: 2.5% is what we charge for seller representation, commissions are not set by law, and every rate is negotiable between you and the broker you hire.
Does the 2.5% include what the buyer's agent gets paid?
No. Our 2.5% is the listing side only. Since August 17, 2024 offers of compensation cannot be published on the MLS, so buyer-side compensation is negotiated deal by deal. A buyer may ask you to contribute through the C.A.R. SPBB form used with paragraph 3G(3) of the purchase agreement. You can accept, counter or decline it like any other term.
What is the average buyer's agent commission now?
Redfin reported an average U.S. buyer's agent commission of 2.42% in Q3 2025, up from 2.36% a year earlier, and 2.22% on sales of $1 million and above, published December 8, 2025. Read it carefully: it is drawn from Redfin's own transaction book, a convenience sample rather than a census, and it is national, not Bay Area.
Can I negotiate the commission after I have signed a listing agreement?
Anything signed can be amended if both parties agree in writing, but you have far more leverage before you sign than after. Negotiate the rate, the term, the deliverables and the termination provisions together, in one conversation, before signing — and ask which marketing costs are inside the fee and which get billed back at closing.
Do I have to offer to pay the buyer's agent to get offers?
No, it is a choice, not a requirement. Inventory was running 20% to 25% below the prior year as of June 2026 per RE/MAX Accord, and 49.9% to 91.3% of homes sold above list across the markets in the table. Whether a contribution improves your net is a question to model per offer, not a policy to adopt in advance.
Sources
- NAR, settlement practice changes effective August 17, 2024 — link
- NAR, Eighth Circuit affirmation, August 19, 2026 — link
- Redfin, buyer's agent commissions Q3 2025, published December 8, 2025 — link
- Redfin, East Bay city data, three months ending June 2026 — link
- RE/MAX Accord, East Bay inventory, June 2026 — brokerage reporting, no public URL
Mark Lederer leads The Lederer Team at Red Oak Realty, with 25-plus years and more than 1,000 closed transactions across the East Bay. If you are weighing what it costs to sell and what you would actually net, we will run the numbers on your property before you commit to anything. Call 510-774-4231 or email [email protected].
