There’s a quiet collapse happening in Jamaica — not of buildings, but of value. Not of structures, but of standards.
Once, five percent was the golden measure of fairness in real estate — the standard commission that acknowledged professionalism, dedication, and the sheer endurance required to bring complex sales to life. It was the foundation upon which Jamaica’s property market was built.
But that foundation is beginning to crack.
In the pursuit of “winning the deal,” agents are lowering commissions to three, then two, and now — astonishingly — to one percent. It seems harmless at first. A small adjustment. A tactical move. But what’s really happening is far more dangerous.
One agent drops the rate, and suddenly, every developer expects the same. One concession becomes a pattern, a pattern becomes an expectation, and an expectation becomes the new norm.
And just like that, the dominoes begin to fall.
