Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
NAR 2026 technology data show AI has become routine for nearly half of Realtors, while transaction-critical uses remain less common.
Artificial intelligence has moved from experiment to routine tool for a large share of real estate agents.
Nearly half of Realtors now use AI daily or weekly, according to the National Association of Realtors’ newly released 2026 REALTORS Technology Report. NAR says 23% use AI daily and 25% use it weekly.
Only 12% said they are not using AI and have no plans to do so, down from 32% who had not tried AI in 2025.
The report is based on responses from 1,200 agents and offers a useful snapshot of how technology is actually being used inside residential real estate businesses.
Listing descriptions lead agent AI use
Among agents who use AI, 75% use it to write listing descriptions, according to NAR. Social media posts rank second at 56%, followed by emails and follow-ups at 52%.
Other uses remain less common. Thirty percent use AI for market summaries and another 30% for marketing content with a personal tone. Twenty-seven percent use it for document review or summarization, while 23% use it to support pricing insights or comparable-property work.
Agents are much less likely to use AI for transaction-timeline recommendations, automated client status reports, disclosure and contract summaries or form completion.
That divide is notable. Adoption is strongest in communication and marketing tasks, while agents remain more cautious about handing transaction-critical work to automated systems.
AI is important, but the MLS still dominates
The report also puts the AI boom in perspective.
NAR found that 96% of respondents use an MLS for their business, 79% use e-signature technology and 68% use showing-scheduling tools. CMA and pricing tools were used by 59%.
AI-generated content tools were cited by 41% as part of their technology stack.
Among AI users, NAR reported ChatGPT as the most commonly used tool at 91%, followed by Gemini at 42%, Copilot at 27%, Claude at 25% and Apple Intelligence at 14%.
Agents want time back
The broader technology findings help explain the adoption pattern.
Eighty-one percent of respondents said saving time is a primary goal when adopting technology, up from 66% a year ago. Improving the client experience was cited by 71%, up from 64%.
Technology budgets remain relatively modest for many agents. About half of those surveyed spend between $50 and $500 per month on technology, while 22% spend more than $500 and 18% spend less than $50.
The learning curve was the most commonly cited pain point in adopting new technology, followed by cost and the sheer number of available options.
The next phase is about judgment, not novelty
The report suggests that AI adoption in real estate is no longer mainly about whether agents will try the technology. The more consequential question is where they decide it is reliable enough to use.
Writing a first draft of a listing description carries a different risk profile from interpreting a contract, recommending a transaction step or generating pricing analysis. Agents and brokers still bear responsibility for the accuracy, legality and professionalism of work delivered to clients.
That makes training, supervision and verification increasingly important as AI moves deeper into everyday workflows.
NAR’s 2026 data show the technology has already crossed an important threshold: for nearly half of Realtors, AI is now at least a weekly part of the job.
