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The impact of real estate agent and firm characteristics on sales prices under different market conditions and price segments

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Abstract

Characteristics of real estate agents and brokerage firms have been shown to impact home sales prices. This paper extends the literature by exploring the heterogeneous effects of these brokerage characteristics under different market conditions and market pricing segments. Using the Multiple Listing Service of Chatham County, Georgia, this study finds that agent and firm characteristics are more impactful in cold markets, when homes are presumably more difficult to sell, and for lower priced homes, which are more likely to be purchased and sold by younger and/or less experienced homebuyers.

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The data used in this study are not publicly available.

Notes

  1. Some exceptions demonstrate that the characteristics of individual agents have an insignificant impact on the selling prices or time on the market (Jud and Winkler 1994; Zumpano et al. 1996).

  2. While it is true that a higher sales price translates into a higher payment to the listing agent, as Beck et al. (2022) and many others have pointed out that the very small additional fee obtained by the agent for a marginal increase in sales price is probably outweighed by the incentive for the agent to close the deal quickly, guaranteeing payment, and freeing him or her to focus on transacting other homes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA, USA

    Jason Beck & Yassaman Saadatmand

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  1. Jason Beck
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  2. Yassaman Saadatmand
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Correspondence to Jason Beck.

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Beck, J., Saadatmand, Y. The impact of real estate agent and firm characteristics on sales prices under different market conditions and price segments. Bus Econ 59, 31–38 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11369-023-00340-4

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