The purpose of the NAR settlement changes is primarily to:

The settlement has no mechanism to increase home prices and was not designed with any such goal — in fact, increased competition in agent fees could theoretically reduce transaction costs for buyers and sellers, potentially improving affordability at the margins.

The settlement does not eliminate buyer's agents — it restructures how they are compensated and requires their agreements to be in writing, but buyer representation as a practice remains fully legal and continues to be widely used across the country.

Nothing in the NAR settlement requires agents to work for free — it simply requires that compensation be agreed upon in writing between a buyer and their agent, and that such compensation not be advertised through the MLS, leaving the actual amount entirely negotiable between the parties.