In the Netherlands it's limited by law to 1.85% or so.

You Win :)

That's just a really sensible solution to this "problem".

Really? The gov setting the rate is the most sensible solution? It may have worked out well in this case, but that's an awfully slippery slope. I couldn't agree more that the commissions themselves are absurdly high, I just tend to think the gov's role should be to foster a competitive environment that would allow the market to arrive at a fair rate rather than picking it themselves

Well, how do you foster an environment where the market would arrive at fair rate?

Without any control, it seems like the rates will get quite high.

I agree, but maybe it should be a sliding scale based on what the house is worth. For a $100k house, even Redfin's flat fee of $5k-$7k is more than double the Netherlands' 1.85% cap.