TL;DR: Real estate commission in Arkansas after the NAR settlement is negotiable, and the newest national figure puts the average buyer's agent commission at 2.42% (Redfin, Q3 2025). That is about $11,274 on Benton County's $465,888 average sale price (Arvest Skyline Report, first half of 2026). Since August 17, 2024, buyer-broker compensation must be written, specific and fully negotiable. County-by-county dollar figures appear below. Negotiate the dollar figure, not a default percentage.
What Is the Real Estate Commission in Arkansas After the NAR Settlement?
The practice changes took effect August 17, 2024. They require a written agreement before an MLS Participant tours a home with a buyer, require buyer-broker compensation to be objectively ascertainable and not open-ended, and prohibit publishing compensation offers on an MLS (NAR Settlement FAQs). Agreements must also carry a conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.
That last requirement answers the headline question directly: no rate is fixed, and the number in your listing agreement is whatever you and your broker write down.
Data vintage matters, so here it is plainly. This report uses the newest figures that could be confirmed as of October 23, 2026: Redfin's Q3 2025 buyer's agent commission (published December 8, 2025), the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (published November 4, 2025), and the Arvest Skyline Report's first-half 2026 county prices. No Redfin 2026 quarter could be opened, so none is quoted here.
If you are selling in Benton or Washington County, treat every national average below as a reference point for a conversation with your broker, not as a quoted rate.
How Much Has the Buyer's Agent Commission Changed Since August 2024?
Only slightly. Redfin's average buyer's agent commission was 2.42% for Q3 2025, up from 2.36% in Q3 2024, the quarter the practice changes took effect. The change is 0.06 percentage points. Redfin's figure is national, not specific to Northwest Arkansas.
Price tier matters more than the year-over-year drift. In Redfin's Q3 2025 release (published December 8, 2025), the average was 2.52% for homes under $500,000 (unchanged from the prior quarter), 2.32% for $500,000 to $999,999, and 2.22% for $1 million or more. The Benton County and Washington County average sale prices covered below both fall under $500,000, the tier with the highest average rate.
If you are selling in either county, 2.52% is the closer national reference than 2.42%, so ask each firm to quote your buyer-agent line at both rates.
What Do Benton and Washington County Prices Say About Negotiating Leverage?
The Arvest Skyline Report, as reported by Talk Business & Politics in August 2026, put Benton County's average home sale price at $465,888 for the first half of 2026, down 1.2% (Arvest Skyline Report), across 3,187 sales. The first half of 2024 was $432,956, so from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2026 the average rose $465,888 / $432,956 - 1 = about 7.6% over two years. Washington County averaged $423,750 across 1,993 sales, up 1.5% from $417,489 in the first half of 2025 and down 1.4% from the second half of 2025. Both are county-level averages, not medians.
Benton County, home to Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville and J.B. Hunt in Lowell, gained about 7.6% over two years, but the latest reading is down 1.2%. Washington County, which includes Fayetteville and Springdale, home of Tyson Foods, is up 1.5% from a year ago but down 1.4% from the second half of 2025. The two-year gain in Benton County was earned before 2026; a seller listing now should not count on further price growth to cover a larger buyer-agent line.
Here is the buyer-agent line in dollars. At 2.42% (Redfin, Q3 2025), it is $465,888 x 2.42% = $11,274 in Benton County and $423,750 x 2.42% = $10,255 in Washington County. At the 2.52% national under-$500,000 tier from Redfin's Q3 2025 release, it is $465,888 x 2.52% = $11,740 in Benton County and $423,750 x 2.52% = $10,679 in Washington County. The gap between those two published averages is 0.10 percentage points, worth $465,888 x 0.10% = $466 in Benton County and $423,750 x 0.10% = $424 in Washington County. The rise from 2.36% to 2.42% is worth $465,888 x 0.06% = about $280 in Benton County. Haggling over a tenth of a point moves a few hundred dollars; deciding whether, when and how much buyer-agent compensation you offer moves more than $10,000.
Buyers' budgets shape that decision. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.32% on October 22, 2026, against 6.19% a year earlier, a rise of 1.13 percentage points. A buyer carrying a higher rate has less cash left at closing to pay their own agent, so expect more offers that ask you to cover the buyer's agent. Decide before you list how you will answer that request.
For a seller in either county, flat recent averages and higher borrowing costs mean your leverage is in the written terms, so compare every quote in dollars at 2.42% and 2.52%.
Are Sellers Still Using Agents, and What Does That Mean for Commission?
Yes. The NAR 2025 Profile (published November 4, 2025, covering transactions from July 2024 to June 2025) found that 91% of sellers used a real estate agent, tying the highest share on record, and 88% of buyers bought through an agent or broker. Only 5% of homes sold as FSBO, an all-time low. The survey reflects the first year after the settlement.
In that same NAR 2025 Profile, the median FSBO sale price was $360,000, against $425,000 for agent-assisted sales. That gap is not a measure of what an agent adds, because the homes and sellers in each group differ. It does show that the fee-free route remains rare even after commissions became openly negotiable.
If a firm quotes a local rate for how often sellers offer or concede buyer-agent compensation, ask it to name the source and the date.
The 91% figure (NAR, published November 4, 2025) tells you most sellers still hire an agent, which makes the written terms of the listing agreement your main point of leverage.
What Should You Do With These Numbers?
- Get the listing agreement's buyer-compensation clause stated in dollars as well as a percentage, and compare it with 2.42% (Redfin, Q3 2025): $11,274 on Benton County's $465,888 average and $10,255 on Washington County's $423,750 average (Arvest Skyline Report, first half of 2026). At the 2.52% national under-$500,000 tier (Redfin, Q3 2025), the figures are $11,740 and $10,679.
- Decide whether you will offer buyer-agent compensation up front or only in response to an offer, and have that choice written into the listing agreement.
- Ask for a net sheet at 2.36%, 2.42% and 2.52% (Redfin: the Q3 2024 and Q3 2025 averages and the Q3 2025 under-$500,000 tier) on your expected sale price.
- Ask your broker for county days on market and months of supply for your price band. Realtor.com put the September 2026 median days on market at 72 in Benton County and 61 in Washington County (via FRED), and the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 7.32% (Freddie Mac, October 22, 2026), against 6.19% a year earlier (Freddie Mac, October 2025 comparison).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is real estate commission set by law in Arkansas?
No. Under the national NAR settlement rules, effective August 17, 2024, which apply to Arkansas MLS transactions, agreements must carry a conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable (NAR Settlement FAQs). Before you sign a listing agreement, ask the firm to write your agreed figure as both a percentage and a dollar amount.
What is the average buyer's agent commission now?
The newest figure available is 2.42% for Q3 2025 (Redfin, published December 8, 2025), up from 2.36% in Q3 2024. Redfin's figure is national. At 2.42%, the buyer-agent line on Benton County's $465,888 average sale price (Arvest Skyline Report, first half of 2026) is about $11,274; the negotiating leverage section above shows the other county and tier figures.
Can a seller still publish a commission offer on the MLS?
No. The settlement prohibits publishing compensation offers on an MLS, effective August 17, 2024 (NAR Settlement FAQs). Buyer-broker compensation must also be objectively ascertainable and not open-ended. Ask your listing broker exactly how your compensation offer will be communicated to buyer agents and where it will be written.
Do most sellers still use an agent?
Yes. The NAR 2025 Profile found 91% of sellers used a real estate agent, tying the highest share on record, and only 5% sold as FSBO (survey of July 2024 to June 2025, published November 4, 2025). The median FSBO price was $360,000 against $425,000 for agent-assisted sales, though the two groups of homes differ.
If you would like a pricing and net-proceeds estimate for your Benton or Washington County property, with the buyer-agent compensation line shown in dollars at several rates, call Mason Capital Group at 479-925-3333 for a first conversation.
About the author: Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker — Mason Capital Group. 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas real estate expertise; $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
Figures in this article are drawn from the Redfin press release for Q3 2025 (published December 8, 2025), the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (published November 4, 2025), NAR Settlement FAQs (effective August 17, 2024), the Arvest Skyline Report as reported by Talk Business & Politics (first half of 2026, article August 2026), FRED and Realtor.com county median days on market (September 2026), and the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (October 22, 2026).