Flat fee realtor listing

The Governmental Accountability Office and House Financial Services Committee say that far too many home sellers still pay 6 percent or more for brokerage commissions. An increasing number of consumers agree that the previously accepted 6 percent commission is too much in today's market, considering the rising level of home prices in recent years.

A study and report issued by Real Trends and Harris Interactive reveals that 62 percent of today's brokerage firms feel pressured to negotiate commissions. And 81 percent say competition is the main reason for lowered commissions, rather than discount realty firms or consumer resistance. And 40 percent report that competition is intensifying.

However, the same study determined that 59 percent of consumers don't think of what they pay for realty services as a percentage amount, but more as a total dollar amount. Among the consumers who do consider realty costs on a percentage basis, almost half said their rate was 5 percent or less in their last transaction. Less than 30 percent said it was 6 percent.

"It's time for regulators and media representatives to print the truth about competition in real estate services," a spokesman for the study said. "Based on our studies, competition has never been so fierce nor have consumers ever had more choices available to them as they have today."