90% of Agents Now Use AI. Your Next Home Sale Will Too.
The latest Zoodealio-ResiClub Real Estate Agent Survey just dropped its Q3 2026 results, and buried in the data is a massive shift that every homeowner, buyer, and seller should be paying attention to: AI is no longer a novelty in real estate. It is the new standard.
Among the agents and brokers surveyed between August and September 2026, a staggering 90% say they now use AI in their business. And 78% report that their clients are using AI tools to research pricing, listings, and transactions on their own.
This is no longer early adoption. This is the mainstream.
Homebuyers and Sellers Are Doing Their AI Homework
According to the survey, 39% of agents say their clients use AI tools "very often" to research pricing, listings, or the transaction process. Another 39% say it happens occasionally. Only 6% of agents say their clients have never used AI.
So what are buyers and sellers actually doing with AI? The survey breaks it down:
****53% use AI to research neighborhoods, schools, and comps. That means more than half of clients are showing up to their first meeting with an agent already armed with AI-generated data on the area they want to buy or sell in.
42% are using AI to interpret contracts and disclosures. Buyers and sellers are uploading purchase agreements, inspection reports, and disclosure documents into AI tools and asking them to translate the legalese. This is a big deal. Real estate contracts can run 20+ pages, and most consumers skim them. AI is giving them a level of understanding that was previously only available through expensive attorney consultations.
23% have used AI to challenge their agent's pricing or valuation. Nearly one in four clients is walking into a listing appointment or buyer consultation with AI-generated comps and saying, "My AI says the price should be different." Agents who can't defend their pricing with real data are going to have a harder time than ever.
12% have used AI to question their agent's commission and fees. Commission transparency has been a hot topic since the NAR settlement in 2024. Now clients have another tool in their pocket for that conversation.
Agents Are Using AI Too. A Lot.
The client side of this is interesting, but the agent side is just as telling. 90% of agents surveyed say they use AI in their business. And the use cases are practical, not experimental:
72% use AI for writing listing descriptions and marketing copy. This is the most common use case by far. Agents are using AI to draft property descriptions, social media posts, email campaigns, and ad copy. The agents who were already strong writers are using it to move faster. The ones who struggled with writing are using it to close the gap.
49% use AI for pricing insights and market analysis. Nearly half of agents are supplementing their CMA process with AI-generated data. That could mean pulling comp analysis, running absorption rate calculations, or generating market trend summaries for client presentations.
46% use AI for client communication. From drafting follow-up emails to generating text message scripts to preparing talking points for listing presentations, agents are offloading communication tasks to AI so they can spend more time on relationships and negotiations.
Most Agents See AI as an Advantage, Not a Threat
One of the most forward-looking questions in the survey asked agents what they think AI will do to the real estate profession over the next five years.
53% believe AI will increase the value agents provide. The majority of agents see AI as something that makes them better at their job, not something that replaces them. The thinking here is straightforward: if AI handles the repetitive tasks (writing, data pulls, scheduling), agents can focus on what actually closes deals. Negotiation, strategy, and local expertise.
30% think AI will reduce the need for agents. That includes 8% who expect a "significant" reduction. This camp believes that as AI gets better at pricing, marketing, and even transaction coordination, some consumers will bypass agents entirely. It is worth noting that similar predictions were made when Zillow launched its Zestimate in 2006, and the agent population has only grown since then. But AI is a fundamentally different kind of tool.
The remaining 17% are undecided or expect no meaningful change.
What This Means for Homeowners
If you are thinking about selling or buying a home in the next 12 months, AI is already part of the equation whether you realize it or not. Your agent is probably using it. The buyer on the other side of the table is probably using it. And the listing description you are reading was very likely written with it.
That is not a bad thing. It means more information, faster communication, and better-prepared participants on every side of the transaction.
But it also means that the bar has gone up. An agent who is not using AI in 2026 is already behind. And a homeowner who walks into a negotiation without doing any AI-powered research is leaving leverage on the table.
What to Do Next
Use AI to research your home's value, neighborhood trends, and comparable sales before you talk to an agent. You do not need to become a data scientist. Just run your address through a couple of AI-powered tools and see what comes back. The more you know going in, the better the conversation with your agent will be.
Ask your agent how they use AI. This is becoming a legitimate vetting question. An agent who uses AI for market analysis and marketing is going to move faster and deliver better results than one who is doing everything manually.
Upload your contract or disclosure documents into an AI tool. 42% of clients are already doing this. If you have a purchase agreement sitting in your inbox, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to summarize the key terms, deadlines, and risks. It is not a substitute for legal advice, but it will help you ask better questions.
Stay current on your home's data. Zoodealio's Home Report delivers live, real-time data on your home's value, equity, and market conditions straight to your inbox twice a month. Knowing where you stand is the first step to making a smart move.
*Source: *Zoodealio-ResiClub Real Estate Agent Survey, Q3 2026