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Individual Agents, Firms, and the Real Estate Brokerage Process

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  • Geoffrey Turnbull
  • Jonathan Dombrow

Abstract

This study examines how individual agents affect house selling prices and time on the market while controlling for brokerage firm-specific effects as well as supply and demand conditions that vary by neighborhood. Firm size effects disappear once firm specialization and agent characteristics are taken into account but geographic concentration by firms leads to higher selling prices. For individual agents, neither sex nor selling own listings affects price or selling time, but there are gains from partnering transactions across firms. Agents who specialize in listing properties obtain higher prices for their sellers while those who specialize in selling obtain lower prices for their buyers. Houses nearer to other transactions of an agent sell for higher prices. Finally, greater scale of listing and selling activity by an agent tends to lower selling price or lengthen the time on the market. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Geoffrey Turnbull & Jonathan Dombrow, 2007. "Individual Agents, Firms, and the Real Estate Brokerage Process," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 57-76, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:35:y:2007:i:1:p:57-76
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-007-9025-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Real estate agents; Brokers; Brokerage; Housing; G24; R21; R31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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