For the second year in a row, a survey by the National Association of Realtors shows that people who did not use a professional real-estate agent actually sold their home faster and got closer to their asking price.

It took an average of nine weeks for agent-assisted deals to close last year versus six weeks on average in the case of for-sale-by-owner properties, according to the Realtors' 2008 survey. And those for-sale-by-owner, or "FSBO," transactions did not include any deals in which the seller knew the buyer — fast-track, friendly deals that could have skewed the numbers.

"This shows the value" of do-it-yourself sales, said Eric Mangan, a spokesman for ForSaleByOwner.com. "It's something the NAR doesn't trumpet, but it's from their own statistics."

If FSBO homes are selling faster and for amounts closer to the original asking price, then it's because real-estate agents are pricing homes too high. Agencies earn a percentage of the sales price, typically 6percent (down from 7percent a few years ago), for services rendered and for the sales agent's commission. So the argument is that agencies have a stake in preserving a higher sales price if possible — but are also quick to cut the price as much as a seller will allow to avoid losing out on a commission completely.

9 weeks vs. 6 weeks

Average time on market for agent-assisted sales vs. for-sale-by-owner deals in 2008

2% vs. 87%

Share of homebuyers who used the Internet in the 1990s vs. now