IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jre/issued/v21n32001p187-200.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impossibility of a Competitive Equilibrium in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Abdullah Yavas

    (Pennsylvania State University, University Park)

Abstract

This note shows that the presence of fixed costs (e.g., licence fees, fees for local, state and national realtor associations, continuing education expenses, some of the office expenses, etc.) in the real estate brokerage industry makes it impossible to have competitive commission rates as the equilibrium outcome. In fact, the only pure strategy Nash equilibrium involves monopoly commission rates. This outcome compels alternative equilibrium explanations for the industry and for the future research on brokerage.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdullah Yavas, 2001. "Impossibility of a Competitive Equilibrium in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 21(3), pages 187-200.
    • Handle: RePEc:jre:issued:v:21:n:3:2001:p:187-200
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pages.jh.edu/jrer/papers/pdf/past/vol21n03/compequil.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Carney, 1982. "Costs and Pricing of Home Brokerage Services," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 10(3), pages 331-354, September.
    2. Suryamani Mantrala & Edward Zabel, 1995. "The Housing Market and Real Estate Brokers," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 161-185, June.
    3. Williams, Joseph T, 1998. "Agency and Brokerage of Real Assets in Competitive Equilibrium," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 11(2), pages 239-280.
    4. Carroll, Wayne, 1989. "Fixed-Percentage Commissions and Moral Hazard in Residential Real Estate Brokerage," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 349-365, December.
    5. Dan Alger, 1987. "Laboratory Tests of Equilibrium Predictions with Disequilibrium Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(1), pages 105-145.
    6. John H. Crockett, 1982. "Competition and Efficiency in Transacting: The Case of Residential Real Estate Brokerage," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 10(2), pages 209-227, June.
    7. Paul Anglin & Richard Arnott, 1999. "Are Brokers' Commission Rates on Home Sales Too High? A Conceptual Analysis," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 27(4), pages 719-749, December.
    8. Bartlett, Randall, 1981. "Property Rights and the Pricing of Real Estate Brokerage," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 79-94, September.
    9. Brown-Kruse, Jamie, et al, 1994. "Bertrand-Edgeworth Competition in Experimental Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(2), pages 343-372, March.
    10. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1982. "Relaxing Price Competition Through Product Differentiation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(1), pages 3-13.
    11. Martin Sefton & Abdullah Yavas & Eric Abrams, 2000. "An experimental comparison of two search models," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 16(3), pages 735-749.
    12. Schroeter, John R., 1987. "Competition and Value-Of-Service Pricing in the Residential Real Estate Brokerage Market," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11116, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    13. Roger Sherman & Thomas D. Willett, 1967. "Potential Entrants Discourage Entry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 400-400.
    14. Davis, Douglas D. & Williams, Arlington W., 1986. "The effects of rent asymmetries in posted offer markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 303-316, September.
    15. Diamond, Peter A., 1971. "A model of price adjustment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 156-168, June.
    16. Sirmans, C. F. & Turnbull, Geoffrey K., 1997. "Brokerage Pricing under Competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 102-117, January.
    17. Yinger, John, 1981. "A Search Model of Real Estate Broker Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 591-605, September.
    18. James R. Follain & Terry Lutes & David A. Meier, 1987. "Why Do Some Real Estate Salespeople Earn More Than Others?," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 2(1), pages 73-81.
    19. Bart Wilson, 1998. "What Collusion? Unilateral Market Power as a Catalyst for Countercyclical Markups," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 1(2), pages 133-145, September.
    20. William C. Goolsby & Barbara J. Childs, 1988. "Brokerage Firm Competition in Real Estate Commission Rates," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 3(2), pages 79-85.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Miceli & Katherine Pancak & C. Sirmans, 2007. "Is the Compensation Model for Real Estate Brokers Obsolete?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 7-22, July.
    2. Xun Bian & Bennie D. Waller & Abdullah Yavas, 2017. "Commission Splits in Real Estate Transactions," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 165-187, February.
    3. Bruce, Donald & Santore, Rudy, 2006. "On optimal real estate commissions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 156-166, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han, Lu & Strange, William C., 2015. "The Microstructure of Housing Markets," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 813-886, Elsevier.
    2. John D. Benjamin & G. Donald Jud & G. Stacy Sirmans, 2000. "What Do We Know About Real Estate Brokerage?," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 20(1), pages 5-30.
    3. John D. Benjamin & G. Donald Jud & G. Stacy Sirmans, 2000. "Real Estate Brokerage and the Hosting Market: An Annotated Bibliography," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 20(1), pages 217-278.
    4. Jonathan Wiley & Justin Benefield & Marcus Allen, 2014. "Cyclical Determinants of Brokerage Commission Rates," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 196-219, January.
    5. Sirmans, C. F. & Turnbull, Geoffrey K., 1997. "Brokerage Pricing under Competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 102-117, January.
    6. Thomas Miceli & Katherine Pancak & C. Sirmans, 2007. "Is the Compensation Model for Real Estate Brokers Obsolete?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 7-22, July.
    7. Timothy E. Jares & James E. Larsen & Thomas S. Zorn, 2000. "An Optimal Incentive System For Real Estate Agents," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 20(1), pages 49-59.
    8. Randy I. Anderson & Robert Fok & Leonard V. Zumpano & Harold W. Elder, 1998. "Measuring the Efficiency of Residential Real Estate Brokerage Firms," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 16(2), pages 139-158.
    9. Marcus T. Allen & William H. Dare & Lingxiao Li, 2018. "MLS Information Sharing Intensity and Housing Market Outcomes," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 297-313, August.
    10. Timothy N. Cason & Charles Noussair, 2007. "A Market With Frictions In The Matching Process: An Experimental Study," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(2), pages 665-691, May.
    11. Fabrice Larceneux & Thomas Lefebvre, 2016. "The " Bad Deal " Illusion," Post-Print halshs-01671084, HAL.
    12. Gabrovski, Miroslav & Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2019. "The cyclical behavior of the Beveridge Curve in the housing market," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 361-381.
    13. Cason, Timothy N. & Friedman, Daniel, 2003. "Buyer search and price dispersion: a laboratory study," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 232-260, October.
    14. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Can Free Entry Be Inefficient? Fixed Commissions and Social Waste in the Real Estate Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1076-1122, October.
    15. Timothy N. Cason & Shakun D. Mago, 2010. "Costly Buyer Search In Laboratory Markets With Seller Advertising," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 424-449, June.
    16. Bruce, Donald & Santore, Rudy, 2006. "On optimal real estate commissions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 156-166, June.
    17. Natalya Delcoure & Norm G. Miller, 2001. "The Future of the US Residential Real Estate Brokerage Industry in Light of the Internet and International Indications," ERES eres2001_147, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    18. Stole, Lars A., 2007. "Price Discrimination and Competition," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 2221-2299, Elsevier.
    19. Ralph-C Bayer & Changxia Ke, 2010. "Rockets and Feathers in the Laboratory," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2010-20, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    20. William C. Goolsby & Barbara J. Childs, 1988. "Brokerage Firm Competition in Real Estate Commission Rates," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 3(2), pages 79-85.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L85 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Real Estate Services

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jre:issued:v:21:n:3:2001:p:187-200. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: JRER Graduate Assistant/Webmaster (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.aresnet.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.