Is The National Association of Realtors (NAR) A Cartel?

[Joseph Coleman]

Hi Everyone! I was reading through the Class Action Complaint put forth by Judge Andrea Wood recently and wanted to get some opinions on,

1. Is it true that the NAR is effectively operating as a cartel?

2. How do you think this legal process will conclude?

3. Would prohibiting price fixing by the NAR be a good thing or a bad thing for buyers and the real estate industry as a whole?

Background:
In the Class Action Complaint (linked below) the Judge accused the NAR of fixing prices and states,

"For decades, home buyers across America have been unwittingly paying too much for, and receiving too little from, services offered to them by real estate agent members of NAR.Despite agent representations (which NAR permits and encourages) that such services do not cost home buyers anything, home buyers in fact pay a hefty cost for these services—namely, supracompetitive commissions at levels fixed by the Defendants, which in turn lead to higher home prices paid by buyers...

as part of their membership, brokers must also agree to follow NAR’s rules, practices, and guidelines. These rules, which include a requirement that sellers set aside a portion of the purchase price for buyer-agent commissions, prohibitions on modifying the commission, and permission to filter listings by commission, all enable NAR, its co-defendants, and its members to maintain buyer-agent commissions at supra-competitive levels unrelated to brokers’ experience or the services provided, steer home buyers away from lower commission homes, and drive out discounters—among other harms."

The way that this reads, it sounds like the NAR is essentially being accused of operating as a cartel. If this is true, it makes one wonder why an anti-trust lawsuit has not come up before. 

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