When The Standard called in March 2024, the honest answer was that nobody knew yet. The settlement was enormous news, the coverage was breathless, and the question everyone wanted answered was whether homes would get cheaper. My read at the time was that San Francisco negotiations would not shift dramatically overnight, because demand here still badly outstripped supply and buyers already had more information at their fingertips than any previous generation.
With some hindsight, that is roughly how it played out, though not entirely for the reasons I expected.
The biggest change turned out to be procedural rather than financial. Buyers now sign a representation agreement with their agent before touring homes, setting out what that agent does and what they charge. That conversation used to happen late, vaguely, or not at all. Having it at the start is an improvement, and it is the part of the settlement I would keep.
Rates did not collapse. They were always negotiable, and they have drifted rather than dropped. What did change is that the buyer's agent fee is now openly negotiated instead of quietly assumed, and it can be paid by the seller, by the buyer, by the listing brokerage, or by some combination of the three.
In practice, San Francisco sellers have kept covering the buyer's agent fee more often than not. That is what I expected. It remains a straightforward way to widen your pool of buyers, and in any market where you would rather have more offers than fewer, that is usually money well spent.
The advice I would give a first-time buyer today is the thing most of the coverage buried. Ask early what your agent charges and who is expected to pay it. You are allowed to negotiate that. You are also allowed to conclude that the answer is fair.
Related: Real Estate Agent Commission Rates in San Francisco and How Do We Get Paid? Understanding Buyer Agent Commission in San Francisco
