Zillow Group Inc. and other real estate stocks plunged after a Missouri jury found the National Association of Realtors and other industry players guilty of colluding to maintain high brokerage commissions.
Shares of Zillow were down 6% to $35.87 at 2:26 p.m. New York time. They earlier fell as much as 11%, the largest intraday decline since May 2022, after industry publications reported on the ruling. Brokerage shares also sank, with Compass Inc. falling 6.6%. Redfin Corp. dropped 7.3%.
None of those companies were named in the lawsuit, which was filed in Kansas City, Missouri, against the Realtors association, Keller Williams and Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America.
“This is not the end,” Keller Williams said in a statement. The brokerage “followed the law regarding cooperative compensation and stands by the evidence presented on the 100-year-old practice of sellers’ agents offering commissions to other agents who help market and sell homes. Looking forward, we will consider all options as we assess the verdict and trial record, including avenues of appeal.”
The jury awarded $1.785 billion in damages in the case, which was the smaller of two lawsuits concerning brokerage commission practices. In a third matter, the Justice Department is focused on a commission-sharing system that typically puts home sellers on the hook for a 5% to 6% cut of the sale, split between their agent and the buyer’s agent.
A representative for the Realtors group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
