Buyers want AI to do the homework, not sign the paperwork.

Let’s start with how widely buyers use AI, because the numbers depend on who’s counted. NAR’s Technology & Innovation team, citing the Bank of America Homebuyer Insights Report, says about 20% of prospective buyers and homeowners use AI tools or chatbots for homebuying research. Cotality, which surveyed a different group, found a much larger share expects AI to be part of the process. These aren’t the same question, so they don’t contradict each other.

What people use it for

Where they want a person

Cotality’s AI in Housing 2026 report (released April 16) surveyed buyers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia who bought in the past five years or plan to in the next two to five. Its headline: 75% expect AI to be built into the transaction. About 86% assume property websites already use it. But 55% would rather have a human for their mortgage, 66% for legal help, and 44% would pay extra to have a person verify what AI told them.

Cotality’s head of data science put it this way: buyers aren’t rejecting AI, they’re asking for safeguards. NAR’s own summary says over half prefer a professional when touring homes and for legal and contract questions.