A house being covered up with cloth
Real-estate agent commissions have barely budged over decades. Critics blame a shady practice known as "steering."

The last month of 2020 should've been a happy time for real-estate agents. The catastrophe of the pandemic had turned into an improbable housing-market boom, as home sales reached 14-year highs. But instead of celebrating their unexpectedly prosperous year, a lot of agents were pissed.