Redfin shows buyer-side fees ticking down at the top while holding elsewhere. Does that trend keep going

The Redfin analysis showing buyer-agent commissions on luxury homes coming down slightly after the new rules, while commissions on cheaper homes held or rose, is worth sitting with because it runs opposite to the rest of the market and it is not obvious what it means for the luxury niche going forward. One reading is that this is a floor effect that stops where it started. A $3M seller negotiating a buyer-side fee is looking at a large dollar number and has every reason to push, so the easy percentage came off in the first year and the harder-to-move remainder is what is left. Wealthy clients tend to understand paying for service they can see, discretion and access being exactly what this environment rewards, which points to a slight trim followed by a steady state. The other reading is that the top of the market is where fee pressure always shows up first, since those clients have advisors, read the documents, and feel no social pressure to pay what is customary. If percentage compression is going to spread, it starts at $5M and works down, and the trim already visible could be the first inch of a longer slide. The difference matters because absolute dollars stay large enough that a half point at the top still leaves a substantial check, which means the percentage can keep falling for years without anyone in the niche complaining loudly enough for it to register.