Property hunting enters the AI agent era

Consumers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help them in property hunting, be it for holiday accommodations or purchasing properties to buy. AI systems save consumers considerable effort by offering "humanized" answers that compare options and make recommendations. Companies are incorporating agentic tools into their services to facilitate property browsing and selection, estate agents are leveraging AI-generated cross-cutting data to promote listings, and even a European bank is enabling purchases through AI.

However, as AI becomes a personal shopper, there are risks involved, warns Mark Walker, director at technology consultancy T4i and former IDC South Africa MD. AI could inadvertently overspend if misused.

According to property company Nox, traffic to their rentals website surged 300% from ChatGPT, 100% from Gemini and Claude, and 90% from Perplexity. Property24 ChatGPT, owned by Naspers, launched mid-year and allows users to browse property listings across South Africa through natural conversation. AI agents in the real estate industry change the way data, descriptions, and reviews are structured and presented.

Instead of relying on superlatives and marketing fluff, AI assistants respond to specific, structured, and verifiable facts. For instance, "stunning villa" holds no significance for an AI, while a description like "six-sleeper with a heated pool, sea-facing terrace, and dedicated workspace, 200m from Camps Bay beach" is more likely to garner an accurate recommendation.

While AI can significantly expedite response times in property hunting, Taylor emphasizes that human expertise remains essential in the booking experience. Only a local can accurately describe aspects like sunset light hitting Lion's Head from a specific terrace or the impact of local winds on a sea-facing balcony. Notably, over 60% of property operators globally already employ AI to gain real-time visibility into bookings, revenue, and pacing, replacing raw spreadsheets with plain-language summaries.

Alistair Pugin, founder of @Celyntis, observes that people's behavior is shifting from Google searches or booking apps to using AI for finding or recommending items. AI agents research, compare, negotiate, and purchase on a person's behalf, simplifying the process by eliminating the need for step-by-step human input and clicks, such as searching, comparing, and reading reviews. Companies like Etsy and Shopify have already implemented GenAI solutions like ChatGPT and Perplexity's one-click shopping flow to enable checkout.