Most real estate agents in Massachusetts get paid through commissions. Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of a property’s sale price, though some brokerages will charge a flat fee. The average agent commission rate nationwide is 5.8% of the home sale price, according to HomeLight’s real estate transaction data of thousands of home sales each year. But how does that compare to the average real estate commission rate in Massachusetts? In this post, we’ll help you determine how much commission you might pay on your Massachusetts home sale, and what options are available to earn the highest proceeds possible. According to top-performing real estate agent Jefri Liriano of Lawrence, you can expect to pay between 5%-6% in agent commissions when selling a home in Massachusetts, with some variation based on location within the state and the broker you use. “Commissions will vary depending on the agents and how they run their business,” Liriano says. On a Massachusetts property worth the current statewide median home sale price of $499,000, that amounts to $24,950–$29,940 in commission costs. Using an overall statewide average of 5.5%, here’s a breakdown of how much you might pay in real estate commissions based on what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in Massachusetts:
HomeLight gathers agent commission data from cities throughout the U.S. To see if we have commission rates for your city, try our Agent Commissions Calculator. You might also be interested in our Home Value Estimator. Still curious about commission rates in Massachusetts? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions: The commission is typically paid by the home seller, and the seller’s agent will then split the commission with the buyer’s agent. Sellers often decide how much they are willing to pay the buyer’s agent, and the listing agent will include that information in the multiple listing service (MLS). We’ll review how commission splits work in Massachusetts in the next section.What’s the average real estate commission in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts city
Median home price
Typical commission at 5.5%
Boston
$767,500
$42,212
Worcester
$285,000
$15,675
Springfield
$184,500
$10,147
Cambridge
$1,800,000
$99,000
Lowell
$335,000
$18,425
Brockton
$405,000
$22,275
Who pays real estate commission fees?
