Consumer Trust in AI for Homebuying Fell by Half in Just One Year

A major new survey from Cotality covering buyers in the U.S., Canada, UK, and Australia found that consumer trust in AI for homebuying decisions fell from 30% in 2025 to just 16% in 2026 — a drop of nearly half, even as real estate platforms accelerated their AI deployments across search, valuation, and mortgage processing.

The findings reveal a growing disconnect: buyers now largely assume AI is embedded in the tools they use, yet they are increasingly skeptical of it. 68% of respondents said they want mandatory AI disclosure labels on listings, and 44% said they would pay a premium for human verification of AI-generated information. 70% or more across all age groups called AI errors "unacceptable" — a finding that cuts across the generational divide often assumed to separate AI skeptics from adopters.

The survey also found that 55% of U.S. buyers still prefer a human for mortgage decisions, even as AI could theoretically cut loan processing time by one to three months.

What to Watch

The Cotality data signals that the next competitive differentiator in PropTech will not be how much AI a platform uses — it will be how transparently. Companies designing for explainability, labeled outputs, and human override are likely to build more durable consumer trust than those racing to automate without disclosure. A regulatory moment around AI labeling in real estate listings may be closer than the industry expects.

Source: RealEstateNews — May 9, 2026