Fewer FSBO's in '06

We saw this little nugget from the Nat'l Assn. of Realtors:

FEWER FSBO TRANSACTIONS

NEW ORLEANS, La. (NAR) – For-sale-by-owner (FSBO) transactions are fewer than ever, according to a new study from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released here last week.

The “2006 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” shows a record low 12 percent of transactions are FSBOs. Market share for do-it-yourself sellers peaked at 20 percent in 1987.

In addition, many FSBO properties are not placed on the open market, according to the report. Forty percent of those transactions are “closely held” between parties who knew each other in advance. That is up from 39 percent in 2005 and 32 percent in 2004.

“When you factor out the properties that were not placed on the open market, the actual number of FSBOs is only 7 percent. The rest are simply unrepresented sellers in private transactions,” said NAR 2006 President Thomas M. Stevens.

I don't claim to have the skill to evaluate any of the research/data methods used to compile the study. But, taking its findings at face value, I wonder the cause of the decrease? My thought would be that the cut-rate brokerages and lowering commissions trend make using a real estate agent a better value than in the past.