The NAR commission settlement raised the question of whether more sellers would go it alone. Search data points the other way: for-sale-by-owner searches as a share of FSBO plus agent-finding searches fell from 29.3% to 20.4% nationally between 2022–23 and 2025–26, and dropped in 50 of 50 states.
Stagingmate ResearchFSBO share = FSBO searches / (FSBO + agent searches) for each 12-month window; change in percentage points. The 10-year view uses Google Trends interest for "for sale by owner" vs "realtor near me", pulled twice and averaged.
Google reports rounded monthly search volumes, and very small volumes show as 10 or nothing, so small states and rare queries are noisy. Google may group close variants of a query. Search volume measures interest, not transactions. Agent-finding searches come from buyers as well as sellers. Searches show intent, not how many homes actually sold without an agent.
states where FSBO's share of seller searches fell.
FSBO share of US seller searches, Sep 2025–Aug 2026 (was 29%).
FSBO share in Iowa, the highest of any state.
For-sale-by-owner searches as a share of FSBO plus agent-finding searches, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, with the change since Oct 2022–Sep 2023.
| Iowa | 47.2% | 62.8 | -15.5 |
| Louisiana | 39.6% | 48.2 | -8.5 |
| Alabama | 35.1% | 45.7 | -10.6 |
| Wisconsin | 34.8% | 46.2 | -11.4 |
| Nebraska | 30.9% | 43.3 | -12.5 |
| Kentucky | 29.6% | 39.6 | -10 |
| Illinois | 29.4% | 41.1 | -11.7 |
| Michigan | 28% | 36.8 | -8.8 |
| Indiana | 27.9% | 38.2 | -10.3 |
| South Carolina | 27.8% | 33.4 | -5.6 |
| Arkansas | 27.4% | 37.9 | -10.5 |
| Alaska | 27.2% | 41.3 | -14.1 |
| Mississippi | 26.7% | 40.3 | -13.6 |
| Montana | 26.3% | 40 | -13.6 |
| Tennessee | 25.9% | 38.5 | -12.6 |
| West Virginia | 25.7% | 35.6 | -9.9 |
| Vermont | 25.5% | 37.2 | -11.6 |
| Missouri | 24.9% | 32.4 | -7.5 |
| North Carolina | 24.6% | 30.5 | -5.9 |
| Georgia | 24.3% | 33.1 | -8.7 |
| New Mexico | 23.7% | 30.1 | -6.5 |
| South Dakota | 23.6% | 38 | -14.4 |
| Florida | 22.2% | 29.4 | -7.2 |
| Connecticut | 21.6% | 27.3 | -5.7 |
| Washington | 20.9% | 24.6 | -3.7 |
| Pennsylvania | 20.9% | 27.3 | -6.4 |
| Minnesota | 20.7% | 27 | -6.3 |
| Oklahoma | 20.6% | 35.7 | -15.1 |
| Idaho | 20.1% | 30.1 | -10 |
| Ohio | 20.1% | 36.2 | -16.1 |
| Maine | 19.7% | 24.9 | -5.2 |
| New Jersey | 19.7% | 31.9 | -12.1 |
| North Dakota | 19.7% | 32 | -12.3 |
| New York | 18.3% | 26.7 | -8.4 |
| Rhode Island | 18.1% | 21.3 | -3.2 |
| New Hampshire | 17.8% | 26.5 | -8.7 |
| Delaware | 17.3% | 18.9 | -1.6 |
| Texas | 17.2% | 25.5 | -8.3 |
| Utah | 17% | 25.6 | -8.6 |
| Massachusetts | 16.5% | 20.8 | -4.3 |
| Oregon | 16.3% | 27.2 | -10.9 |
| Kansas | 16.1% | 38 | -21.8 |
| Maryland | 15.4% | 23.1 | -7.6 |
| Hawaii | 14% | 14.9 | -0.9 |
| Nevada | 13.6% | 17.3 | -3.7 |
| Colorado | 13.3% | 21.6 | -8.3 |
| Virginia | 12.9% | 28.3 | -15.4 |
| Wyoming | 11.3% | 31.5 | -20.2 |
| Arizona | 10.4% | 21.1 | -10.7 |
| California | 8.1% | 14.4 | -6.3 |
states where for-sale-by-owner searches lost share to agent searches between 2022–23 and 2025–26.
| Period | FSBO share of seller searches (US) |
|---|---|
| Oct 2022 to Sep 2023 | 29.3% |
| Sep 2024 to Aug 2025 | 20.5% |
| Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 | 20.4% |
The commission rule changes that took effect in August 2024 put buyer-agent fees in the spotlight. Search behavior since then shows sellers looking for agents more, not less, relative to selling on their own.
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Stagingmate Research (2026). For-sale-by-owner searches lost ground to agent searches in all 50 states. https://stagingmate.com/research/fsbo-vs-agent-search-demand
Free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. For the full dataset or a local cut, email press@stagingmate.com.
Search data suggests not. FSBO's share of seller searches fell from 29.3% to 20.4% nationally in three years.