During this high-rate, high-price housing market, Americans are seeking as much information as they can find to navigate the challenges of homebuying and selling today.
One way they’re learning more? Through the use of AI.
A whopping 82 percent of Americans are now using AI tools to gain market insights, a survey from Realtor.com found. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re forgoing the use of a real estate agent.
The finding comes on the heels of OpenAI announcing this week that it had integrated apps within the ChatGPT interface, including Zillow.
Of those individuals who are using AI in real estate contexts, most are opting for ChatGPT (67 percent of respondents) and Gemini (54 percent), and specified that they like how using these tools can personalize their search.
Many survey respondents also said that social media is one of their main sources for real estate content, with the majority heading to YouTube (73 percent) and Facebook (57 percent) for housing content. The youngest homebuying generation — Gen Z — most often looks to TikTok for housing content, with 76 percent of Gen Z respondents saying it’s their preferred social media platform for this purpose.
When it comes to becoming “smarter” about the housing market, no other source can best the advice of a real estate agent. Survey respondents said they rely most on real estate agents (62 percent of respondents) to become “smarter” about the market, and then turn to AI (61 percent), and other sources like traditional media and social media.
Survey respondents also considered real estate agents the most accurate source of information — before AI, family and friends and the news — and about 66 percent found agents to be a good use of time, more so than other information sources. By contrast, many buyers and sellers thought market information from their family and friends, social media, and television shows were not applicable to their chosen housing market.
TV and streaming programs were determined to be the least usable source of information by survey respondents, with 40 percent saying they found the information was not applicable to their market. They also thought it depicted an “unlikely” homebuying and selling experience.
Social media was also viewed as not applicable to 30 percent of respondents, and 30.5 percent said it depicted an inaccurate view of the market. Meanwhile, one-quarter of respondents said family, friends and neighbors also offered market information that was not applicable to them.
So, while Americans are seeking information about the market from all sources, many continue to view real estate agents as the most reliable source, which should give agents some confidence during these uncertain times.
The future is here — and it’s powered by AI. October is Artificial Intelligence Month at Inman. We’ll dive into how agents, brokerages and startups are harnessing AI to reimagine real estate, and we’ll honor the trailblazers leading the way with Inman AI Awards.
