Q: My husband and I are both newly converted AI enthusiasts. I am also a real estate agent. We are curious as to the impact artificial intelligence is having in residential real estate. I do not hear too much about it in NAR publications. What do you see happening today, and what does the future hold?
A: Your timing is apt. AI’s footprint in residential real estate is growing faster than most industry publications are willing to acknowledge – perhaps because the implications are uncomfortable for some of their core constituents. Three companies illustrate where things stand today, and together they tell a revealing story.
According to Businesswire.com, Homes.com, owned by data giant CoStar Group, launched a fully conversational AI search experience in February 2026, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, allowing buyers to search and explore homes through real-time two-way conversation by voice or text. No filters, no keywords, no friction. CoStar’s CEO has described the vision as filters being essentially gone, replaced by a virtual, all-knowing advisor that remembers every transaction, knows everything about every house, and takes buyers directly where they want to go. Inman.com explains, as an agent, the business model behind Homes.com is worth understanding. All listings appear on the site, and leads on any listing always go to the listing agent, never diverted to a competitor, which is a direct contrast to how Zillow and Realtor.com have historically operated. However, Homes.com shares that paying member agents receive significantly preferential treatment, their listings sort above non-members, with premium placement on neighborhood and school pages and retargeting across thousands of websites. It is not a walled garden, but it is a two-tier system. Agents who are not paying members will find their listings buried. That is worth knowing before your next listing conversation.
Homa is a venture-backed startup that goes considerably further. Founded by a former Senior Director at Zillow, Homa has completed end-to-end AI-powered home purchases in the United States, offering buyers a transparent, cost-effective alternative that puts them in control and eliminates the need for a traditional commission-based buyer’s agent (source: Business Wire) In Florida, where Homa is currently active, nearly 40% of users who sign up have committed to purchasing without an agent. RealEstateNews.com states that number deserves your full attention. Homa is not a curiosity, it is a direct challenge to the traditional buyer’s agent model, arriving precisely as the post-NAR settlement landscape has buyers openly questioning what they are paying for.
At the transaction layer, platforms like Propbox are building the infrastructure that underpins what comes next. Propbox embeds an AI assistant directly into the client-facing portal, automating workflows, managing documents, tracking milestones, and giving buyers and sellers real-time visibility into where their deal stands. Early pilots report closings happening 25% faster with 40% fewer client messages required. That is not a forecast, it is happening now, in live transactions.
Your own role as an agent is where this gets personal. The agents who will thrive are those who use AI as a force multiplier, preparing better, responding faster, advising more precisely, while providing what no platform can replicate: earned trust with a human being navigating one of the most consequential financial decisions of their life. Buyers who encounter Homa and still choose to work with an agent will be looking for someone who brings genuine expertise beyond what AI already delivers. That is a higher bar, but for the right agent it is also a significant opportunity.
NAR’s relative quiet on this is worth noting. Trade associations historically protect incumbent models. Independent-minded agents, like you, are better served watching what the technology actually does than waiting for their publication to frame it for you.
The agents who will struggle are those waiting to be told what to think about AI. The ones who will flourish are already using it.
