Bigger is not Better: Brokerage and Time on the Market

We examine the relationship between the seller's choice of a real estate agent/firm and the time it takes to sell his property (TOM). We find that neither the commission rate of the selling agent nor the size of the listing firm has a significant impact on TOM. Our results also indicate that an increase in the number of listings by the listing agent increases TOM while an increase in the number of house sales by the listing agent decreases TOM. We fail to find empirical support for the argument that brokerage firms and agents expend more effort to sell their own listings.