Real Estate Freakonomics
NY Times, Endangered Species:
Since an agent’s commission is usually based on a fixed percentage of the sale price — typically 5 or 6 percent, of which about half goes to the listing agent and half to the buyer’s agent — agents’ fees have climbed along with home prices, even though they probably don’t have to work any harder to sell an $800,000 house than they do a $200,000 house.