Elliman’s AI Overhaul Raises Questions About Future of Agents

11 minutes read

Residential real estate could be approaching a reckoning over artificial intelligence.

Earlier this week, Douglas Elliman announced it was overhauling its technology, including launching a new company powered by Google Cloud AI. Along with the announcement, CEO Michael Liebowitz said the tech upgrade would lead to layoffs at the firm and that he ultimately expected AI to reduce the need for so many agents in the industry.

Liebowitz’s comments struck at a debate playing out across industries, as advancements in generative AI raise questions about the future of some employees’ roles. In the tech sector, companies like Meta, Amazon and Oracle have already laid off thousands of workers following the implementation of AI-powered programs.

But in residential real estate, the impact of AI is still coming into focus. As Liebowitz acknowledged in statements around the launch, some of these tech innovations will allow brokerages to eliminate several back-end and business positions. As those roles shrink, agents are also grappling with their own anxieties about what more tech could mean for them.

Yet despite speculation that the technology could push many agents out of the business, it doesn’t appear to be doing so — at least, not right now.

But it is reshaping how agents do their jobs. AI tools have helped agents cut down on some of the administrative tasks involved in selling homes, including helping to write listing descriptions, drafting contracts and generating relevant data reports.

Like Elliman, other brokerages have also invested heavily in developing their own AI-powered platforms, including Compass, which spent nearly $1 billion on its tech stack, which it just finished rolling out to the other brands now under its umbrella after its merger with Anywhere Real Estate.

But agents are saying that AI has infiltrated the dealmaking process in some frustrating ways. Brokers across multiple firms in New York told my colleague, Jake Indursky, that their clients are increasingly relying on AI to set their expectations for sale prices and how much they should offer to purchase a property — estimates that are often incorrect or misleading.

“It reminds me of the early days of GPS, and people were staring at their GPS and driving into lakes,” John Walkup, co-founder of UrbanDigs, told TRD earlier this year.

But for the most part, agents say they’ve been able to fend off their clients’ dismissals and pushback, signaling that, at least for now, their roles are still a necessity.

In case you missed it…

Deals on Long Island’s East End fell in the second quarter, as a shortage of listings continues to tamp down activity, according to Miller Samuel’s report with data from Streetmatrix.

In the Hamptons, that lack of supply pushed prices upward, with the region’s median sale logging a double-digit increase for the fourth time in a row. But the North Fork’s numbers sent “mixed signals,” said report author Jonathan Miller, as the average sale price hit a record high and the median sale price dropped.

Miller chalked that bifurcation up to a shift in the market segments that attracted the most sales during the three-month period. Across the East End, the lion’s share of deals were in what Miller described as the middle market, for properties above $1 million but below the trophy values that typically make headlines in the market.

NYC Deal of the Week

The most expensive sale to land in city records this week was for a condo at the Surrey, which closed for $25.7 million. The apartment at 20 East 76th Street is one of 14 residences developed by the Reuben Brothers above the Surrey Hotel.

Unit 15AB, purchased by a buyer whose identity is shielded by a shell company, spans nearly 5,000 square feet and has four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. It also features a 25-foot great room, eat-in kitchen and library.

Douglas Elliman’s Lauren Muss and Michelle Griffith led sales at the project.