According to Delta Media’s Real Estate AI survey, the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) to real estate brokerage leaders has jumped over 30% since 2024. Leaders rated AI’s importance at 5.45 out of ten in 2024, compared with 7.12, while its expected importance over the next 12 to 18 months rises to 8.25 out of ten.
A three-year look back at Delta Media’s Real Estate AI Survey data shows how quickly AI has moved to a core business capability for brokerages. In 2024, leaders were still weighing where AI fits into their businesses. By 2026, the survey shows brokerages moving AI deeper into CRM systems, workflow automation, back-office operations, recruiting, training and other core functions.
“The big story today isn’t whether real estate is using AI. We knew that after the first survey we did in 2024. What has changed is how important brokerage leaders believe AI has become to their businesses.
“The increase in just two years is a major shift, and when leaders look ahead, the importance score rises even higher. AI is quickly moving from something brokerages use to something they are beginning to build their businesses around.”
Michael Minard, CEO and Owner, Delta Media Group
Nearly all 97% of the brokerage leaders surveyed report that their agents are using AI. The latest findings suggest brokerages are moving AI beyond individual productivity tools and into the technology, workflows and business functions that support the entire organisation.
In 2024, brokerage leaders rated AI’s importance at 5.45 out of ten today and 7.02 when looking to the near future. In 2025, those ratings rose to 5.9 and 7.2 for the future. In 2026, leaders rate AI’s current importance at 7.12 out of ten, rising to 8.25 when looking ahead. Using the underlying survey averages, AI’s current importance has increased over 30% since 2024, indicating it has evolved from a promising technology to an essential business capability.
In 2024, only 23% of leaders expected AI to be used for front-office or administrative support. In 2026, 53% of brokerage leaders say they plan to adopt or expand AI for administrative and back-office automation, over double the level anticipated just two years ago.
Over half of 2026 respondents plan to expand AI for CRM enhancement and workflow automation, at 55%, while 53% cite administrative and back-office automation and 52% cite agent recruiting, training and performance coaching. Another 50% plan to adopt or expand agentic AI tools capable of automating tasks. This marks a notable progression from 2024, when brokerage leaders’ future AI plans were dominated by digital marketing at 73% and social media at 72%.
Half of brokerage leaders plan to adopt or expand agentic AI tools this year. Nearly half plan to expand AI for business intelligence, forecasting and predictive analytics (49%), document summaries and contract review (48%), market analysis and property valuations (46%), and client communication automation (45%).
The shift is notable as many of these applications barely figured into the AI conversation when Delta Media began surveying brokerage leaders in 2024. At that time, the most anticipated uses centred overwhelmingly on content creation and marketing. The 2026 results show brokerage leaders preparing to deploy AI much more broadly across the business.
“We’re watching AI move from the edges of the brokerage toward the centre. Marketing and content were natural places to start because the benefits were easy to see.
“Now leaders are looking at CRM workflows, administrative automation, forecasting, training and even agentic AI. These are decisions that can change how their entire brokerage operates.”
Michael Minard, CEO and Owner, Delta Media Group
Michael points out that the breadth of planned AI use is growing more important than the popularity of any single application as brokerage leaders now are looking across nearly every major business function.
“Three years ago, when you talked to brokers and agents about AI in real estate, they were talking about AI creating listing descriptions.
“That conversation is completely different today. Brokerage leaders are looking at AI across virtually every part of their businesses. The opportunity now is figuring out where AI really delivers value, how all these capabilities work together and how you deploy them in a way that makes a brokerage better.”
Michael Minard, CEO and Owner, Delta Media Group
The emergence of agentic AI is another sign of that transition. The 2026 survey is the first in Delta Media’s three-year series to ask leaders specifically about agentic AI, reflecting the rise of AI systems designed not simply to generate an answer or piece of content but to carry out tasks on a user’s behalf. Half of brokerage leaders say they plan to adopt or expand their use of agentic AI tools in 2026.
The annual Delta Media AI Survey has become adefinitive benchmark for understanding how real estate brokerage leaders and their agents are using AI.
