商业

　　American property

　　美国房市

　　The great realtor rip-off

　　房地产经纪人大敲竹杠

　　Why is it so expensive to buy or sell a house in America?

　　在美国，买卖房子怎么就这么贵？

　　IN BRITAIN, if you want to sell your home, an estate agent will list the property, find a buyer, help you negotiate a deal and guide you through the transaction, all for a commission of 2-3% of the sale price. In America, realtors provide the same services for roughly double the fee.

　　在英国，如果你想卖掉自己的房子，房地产中介就会列好财产清单，找买家，帮你达成协议并指引你完成交易，做这么多只为赚取房屋售价2-3%的佣金。而在美国，房地产经纪人提供同样的服务，却要两倍的价格。

　　Are they worth it? The shouty realtors in David Mamet's film Glengarry Glen Ross (pictured) certainly think so. ("[My] watch costs more than your car…that's who I am.") Others disagree. Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago finds that American property brokers cause "social waste" of $8 billion a year via overcharging and inefficiency.

　　这个高价真有所值吗？David Mamet的电影《拜金一族》中大吵大闹的房地产中介（见图片）肯定认为值。（"[我]的表比你的车都贵，这就证明了我的身价。"）他人却不这么认为。芝加哥大学的谢长泰发现，美国房地产经纪人的高收费和低效率引发的一年80亿美元的"社会浪费"。

　　Economists are baffled. The internet has squelched inefficient middlemen in other industries, from insurance brokers to travel agents. Why not American realtors? Although scores of discount brokers and for-sale-by-owner websites have sprouted up, traditional full-service realtors have somehow maintained their market share of 80% without reducing fees.

　　经济学家有些摸不着头脑。互联网已经消除了从保险业到旅行业等其他行业的混日子的中介。可是为什么这些行业中没有美国的房地产界？虽然贴现经纪人人数和for-sale-by-owner网站的点击率不断蹿升，传统的全包式服务中介在不减少佣金的情况下仍保持了80%的市场份额。

　　The business used to operate like a series of local cartels. In a typical area, a handful of brokers controlled a shared database of available homes, and limited their cheaper rivals' access to those listings. In 2008 in the United States and 2010 in Canada, regulators struck deals with realtors to open up these databases. Yet since then the average commission has actually risen, from 5.0% in 2005 to 5.4% in 2011, according to REAL Trends, a research firm.

　　该行业以前的经营模式就像当地垄断联盟组织。在典型的地区，一群中介控制了闲置住房的数据库，并避免出低价的对手得到这些数据。在2008年的美国和2010年的加拿大，监管人士没能和中介们达成一致公开他们的数据库。而从那以后，平均佣金就从2005年的5%涨到2011年的5.4%，研究机构REAL Trends表示。

　　Why are high fees so persistent? One counterintuitive theory is that America's housing bust has buoyed them. Selling a home is easy when prices are rising. But when financing dries up and volumes dip, sellers may need an agent's expertise and energetic marketing to find a buyer.

　　为什么手续费高居不下？一个反常理的理论是美国的房屋业的低迷反倒振奋了房地产中介。房价上涨的时候是卖房的好时期。但是由于资金短缺，待售房数量减少，卖家可能需要中介的经验和充满活力的营销手段来找到买家。

　　Never give a sucker an even break

　　绝不能轻易放过一个傻瓜

　　Another theory is that clients are suckers. Agents routinely tell buyers not to worry about the fat commission because "the seller pays it." Meanwhile, they tell sellers not to worry because they will jack up the price of the home to cover it. According to Steve Murray of REAL Trends, two-thirds of clients choose an agent because of a prior personal relationship or referral. They may be reluctant to haggle with realtors to whom they have social ties.

　　另一个理论是客户都是傻瓜。中介经常告诉买家不要担心高昂的佣金，因为"卖家付这些钱"。同时，他们告诉卖家不用担心，因为他们会把佣金加在房屋售价里。据REAL Trends的Steve Murray称，三分之二的客户选择中介是因为有私交或是受人推荐。他们可能也不愿意和与他们有人际交往的中介讨价还价。

　　A third theory is that the industry is less competitive than it looks. In most areas a few big brokers handle most transactions. They set high fees, which lure ever more people into the profession: between 1998 and 2005 the number of members of America's National Association of Realtors grew by 67%. These agents waste time competing with each other for the exclusive right to sell each home, sapping productivity. According to Norm Miller of the University of San Diego, an average agent in Britain closes 40-50 deals a year, compared with just seven in America.

　　第三种理论是房地产行业并不像想象的那样竞争激烈。在大部分地区，少数大型的经纪商掌控大部分交易。他们定高手续费，引诱更多的人进入该行业：在1998年到2005年之间，美国房产经纪人协会的成员数上涨了67%。这些中介机构浪费时间，彼此竞争卖掉每个房屋的经手权使行业生产力走向衰竭。根据圣迭戈大型的Norm Miller称，英国一所普通的房屋中介一年经手40-50个交易，而美国的一年平均只有7个。

　　Cynics say the industry has captured its regulators. The property commissions of American states are usually made up of brokers. Perhaps this is why many states have banned commission rebates-a form of discounting-or set up "minimum-service" standards that stop brokers offering fewer services for less money.

　　愤世嫉俗的人称该行业俘获了它的监管者。美国房地产业佣金一般是给中介经纪人的。也许这就是为什么许多州禁止了佣金回扣——一种折扣形式——或是设立"最低限服务"标准以阻止经纪人少服务少挣钱的原因。

　　The biggest cause, however, is probably the interdependent nature of the business. Since both the buyer and seller are represented by agents in most transactions, brokers must collaborate to close deals at the same time as they compete for listings. Buyers' agents have an incentive only to show their clients homes whose sellers offer them a standard 3% commission.

　　然而，最主要的原因大概是该行业相互依赖的本性。由于在大多数交易中买方和卖方都有经纪人，而经纪人必须在互相竞争得到房屋资产数据的同时协作达成交易。当房屋卖家给他们提供3%的佣金时，买方的经纪人才向他们客户展示代售房屋。

　　To solve this problem, many sellers' agents offer to cut their own fee while still offering the full price to the buyer's agent. Alas, word soon spreads that they are giving rebates. That makes many buyers' agents steer their clients elsewhere-either in solidarity with full-service brokers or because they fear a discounter will leave them with the lion's share of the work.

　　为解决这一问题，许多卖家的代理商削减自己的佣金同时仍向买方中介报全价。这样的话，马上就有谣言传他们给了回扣。这就使许多的买方中介把客户带到其他的地方看房子——或是与提供全包服务的中介团结一致，或是因为他们害怕贴现会给他们惹上大部分的交易工作。

　　Such stealth discrimination is hard to prove: buyers' agents can always say they ignored a listing because it did not meet their client's needs. But Colby Sambrotto, the founder of ForSaleByOwner.com and USRealty.com, a discount broker, says that after trying to sell his own home in New York by himself, he was forced to hire an agent to get it shown to potential buyers.

　　现在还很难证明这种隐形歧视的存在：买家的代理商可以永远称他们忽略财产清单是因为其并没有满足客户的需求。但是ForSaleByOwner.com和USRealty.com网站的创始人Colby Sambrotto称，在自己尝试卖掉位于纽约的房产后，他不得不雇一个中介向潜在买家展示房子。

　　Such retaliation is hardly universal: Mr Sambrotto says it was a "regular exception rather than the rule" for his firm's clients in most markets. But because discounters need to make up for lower commissions with higher volumes, even a small amount of discrimination is often enough to drive them out of business. The demise of the 6% commission may still be inevitable. But for now, it seems a long way off.

　　这样的报复心理并不是普遍的：Sambrotto称对于他公司的各个市场的客户来说，与其说是规则，不如说是"正规的例外"。但是由于折现需要用更高的数额弥补较低的佣金，就算是小丁点的歧视都足以把他们赶出这个行业。6%佣金时代的终结可能仍是不可避免的。但是就现在来说，仍是长路漫漫。