Real estate agents are principally upbeat concerning the housing market, a brand new report finds, at the same time as broader financial worries depart consumers and sellers uneasy concerning the future.
When requested about their outlook on the housing market over the following 12 months, 48% of actual estate agents have been extra optimistic in June in comparison with May, in response to a survey from actual estate brokerage Real. In distinction, 17% of agents surveyed have been extra pessimistic, whereas simply over one-third reported no change in opinion.
The Agent Optimism Index collects survey knowledge from agents to create a scale from zero to 100, with something above 50 signalling an optimistic outlook of the true estate market. In June, the index was 59.5, a slight improve from May. This is roughly the identical as June 2024, however is a drop from a excessive of 76.4 final December.
“Our June survey reveals a continued moderation in transaction quantity, resulting in an much more buyer-friendly market,” mentioned Tamir Poleg, chairman and CEO of Real, in a press launch.
This optimism comes as housing stock has been growing whereas financial issues proceed to weigh on shoppers. In the report, 48% of agents mentioned their market has moved to favor consumers, a significant change from a yr in the past when solely 20% felt that manner. In January, 10% of agents surveyed cited “financial uncertainty” as a problem for consumers; in June, that quantity had greater than doubled to 26%.
AI use is rising, however issues stay
The report additionally provided new insights into how agents are deploying synthetic intelligence in their work, with 58% of agents saying that they used it each day, eight factors larger than final yr. AI proved to be essential in serving to agents with advertising, together with writing property descriptions and digital staging. Many agents additionally described utilizing AI to comply with up with clients and generate emails in addition to having it analyze worth and gross sales developments in sure neighborhoods.
Despite believing AI can save time and create effectivity, agents in the survey nonetheless had some misgivings concerning the new tech. Nearly one-third of respondents nervous about AI being biased or inaccurate, and one other quarter have been nervous that its use may cut back human connection and empathy. Data privateness was additionally a priority for some agents.
AI is shortly changing into a ubiquitous a part of the true estate trade, with firms using chatbots to succeed in clients and instruments to reply compliance questions. But there are additionally rising issues that criminals are utilizing the know-how to defraud consumers and steal wire funds. It’s one thing that even OpenAI’s Sam Altman warned about in a latest discuss, saying he’s nervous a few “important, impending fraud disaster” for monetary establishments.
