My mother is a real estate agent and having observed that industry first hand for most of my life and seeing how backwards it is, I like to criticize it as much as the next person. That being said, I don't see how the holding the real estate agent accountable is the right solution. Their job is to find and show houses buyers may want to purchase, not handle the details of counter-party risk. Responsibility here lies with all the counter-parties to the transaction with contractual obligations, i.e. the buyer and the lender.
At best, you could maybe set up a simple framework that requires real estate agents a way to calculate the range of homes that they should be showing their buyers. This would be used just to make sure the real estate agent doesn't push people into homes someone should not being considering. However, with that said, if a buyer insists in looking outside the price range that is affordable for them, that isn't the real estate agents fault.
I agree re: it not being the agent's fault if the buyer insists. But I've seen all too many cases where it's the agent doing the 'gentle push' to higher prices. "Well don't forget this will give you a tax break over renting, and that will add up to a couple hundred a month..." Etc, etc.
I'm shopping for a house again now, and even now I've had to tell my agent that the top end of what I provided as a limit is actually a limit, and I want to see properties under it as well.
At best, you could maybe set up a simple framework that requires real estate agents a way to calculate the range of homes that they should be showing their buyers. This would be used just to make sure the real estate agent doesn't push people into homes someone should not being considering. However, with that said, if a buyer insists in looking outside the price range that is affordable for them, that isn't the real estate agents fault.