The Consumer Federation of America released a new report that uses industry sources to document the costs to industry and to consumers of too many residential real estate agents.  More than 1.5 million residential agents (including brokers) compete for home sales usually totaling 5 to 6 million annually. The report documents complaints by many experienced, full-time agents of the incompetence and/or inattention of other agents that also harm consumers.  And it emphasizes that because of the “surfeit of agents,” real estate agents and brokers feel financial and/or peer pressure to keep commission rates relatively high.