Understanding Real Estate Agents' Commission and the Lawsuit Against the Industry

If you have ever bought a home or are thinking about buying one, you know it can be expensive. For most people, a home is the most expensive purchase they will ever make.

But selling a home can be expensive too. In part, that's because of the commissions real estate agents collect when a home is sold.

Depending on the price of the home, commissions can be tens of thousands of dollars.

A class action lawsuit brought by a group of Missouri home sellers against the National Association of Realtors argues that these fees hurt consumers by artificially inflating home prices.

This past week, a federal jury awarded the home sellers $1.8 billion.

Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong, co-hosts of NPR's The Indicator, break down how that decision could change the entire real estate industry.

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