Real Estate AI Use High, Perceived Value Low

Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely adopted across the real estate industry, with 90% of surveyed professionals utilizing it in some capacity, according to a July briefing from Fyxer. Despite this near-universal embrace, a significant disconnect exists regarding its perceived value, as only 35% of respondents reported that AI is genuinely helpful. This creates a 55-percentage-point gap between usage and perceived utility, marking the largest disparity among industries examined in Fyxer's broader AI Productivity Trap Report.

The report, which surveyed 89 real estate professionals and compared their responses to a larger sample of 2,000 U.S. office workers, indicates that many real estate professionals are leaning on generic AI tools rather than solutions specifically designed for the sector. Adoption rates for industry-specific AI tools in areas like Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and property research, market analysis, and client matching range from a low of 21% to 25%. Instead, the majority of professionals are employing general-purpose chatbots and research assistants. Researchers suggest that while these generic AI tools can assist with tasks like drafting emails and generating content, they lack the specialized understanding of property data, client histories, and transaction workflows that dedicated platforms offer. In comparison to U.S. office workers, real estate professionals show lower regular usage of almost all AI tool categories, with the exception of chat tools.

The real estate industry's substantial administrative workload presents a prime opportunity for AI integration. Professionals spend 32 percentage points more time on client communications than the cross-sector average, with email being the second-largest administrative burden after client interaction. However, the adoption of AI for managing emails remains comparatively low. Only 39% of respondents use AI to compose or respond to emails, and a mere 23% utilize it for reading incoming messages. The researchers identified email automation as a key area where AI could significantly alleviate administrative pressures within the industry.