The incentives of the real estate agent, mortgage broker, other service providers and seller are to inflate the asset price. This is a key contributor to housing unaffordability. Natural competitive market forces are totally absent since competition is stifled and the true price/cost of everything is expertly hidden and muted.

Fee layers accumulate across multiple refinancing cycles and hold periods, compounding consumer cost over time and creating high-water marks that keep prices going up. A family owning a home for seven years pays $9,594 annually just in transaction costs---a hidden tax that enriches intermediaries while impoverishing households.

The macroeconomic impact ripples through society. When transaction costs consume 16.3% of property value, labor mobility freezes. Workers can't afford to relocate for better opportunities. Families delay moves, living in suboptimal housing because transaction costs are prohibitive. Young buyers are priced out entirely, not by home values but by transaction friction. Wealth accumulation stalls as equity evaporates into fees.