NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — The real estate world is having something of an identity crisis, and three leading industry insiders didn’t mince words about it during a spirited panel discussion at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) conference in New Orleans on June 17.
From private listings to the growing threat of climate disasters and AI’s emerging uses, the traditional ways of buying and selling homes are being turned upside down. Real estate brokerages must change how they operate to stay ahead of these fast-moving trends.
The panelists—Curt Beardsley, Zillow’s vice president of industry development, Marilyn Wilson, founding partner of WAV Group and Sam Scott, director of information with the Houston Association of REALTORS®—didn’t exactly agree on everything. But they did concede that real estate brokerages will look a lot different in the future—whether the industry is ready or not for change.
Industry divide over private listings hurting collaboration
Things got heated early when the conversation kicked off with a bang to focus on private listings. Zillow made headlines in April when it announced a ban on properties placed on a private listing platform first before public-facing MLSs.
Beardsley said that Zillow data shows that sellers “left money on the table” to the tune of $1 billion in 2023 and 2024 when they participate in private listing networks.
“We’ve always believed that we should show as much information to consumers as possible, and so we believe that buyers are best served by having access to that full information,” Beardsley told attendees, who were mostly real estate journalists and editors. “We don’t believe that sellers who are sometimes making the choice to go into private networks have a full understanding of what they’re giving up in that process.”
But Wilson pointed out that there are different ways to sell a property today depending on what sellers need, and starting on the MLS may not be the way to go for all sellers.
“Allow consumers to understand (each of the ways to sell property) and educate agents on how to tell that story effectively, and then not steer them one (way) or the other,” Wilson said. “Let them make their own decisions.”
The bigger issue, in Wilson’s viewpoint, is the “erosion of collaboration” within the industry.
“There’s people that have visceral responses when you say a particular brokerage brand (that’s not theirs). So you’re seeing large brokerages publicly fight, and I’m sure that translates into boardrooms and things, too, where people won’t collaborate with one another anymore.”
She added: “I think that’s much more dangerous than any one of these policies, so that’s what I worry about.”
Consumers want climate change data on listings
Climate change used to be a non-starter topic when it came to selling houses. Not anymore.
All three panelists agreed that buyers are hungry for information about flood risks, hurricane damage and other environmental hazards. Wilson said focus groups consistently put flood maps and floor plans at the top of consumers’ wish lists for property data, particularly with homeowners insurance costs soaring across several states in the U.S.
But getting the information there is trickier than it sounds, she noted.
Scott described the delicate dance his association does in Houston around MLS flood disclosures. While the MLSs provide all the data people want, they stop short of bold warnings on listings that are in potentially catastrophic areas.
“As far as really putting bold-face warnings on certain properties that, hey, this place flooded in 2017, no, we’re not there yet,” he said.
Beardsley said Zillow takes a different angle, sharing everything from air quality data to commute times on Zillow listings. With 227 million visitors to the site monthly, he said the goal is full transparency, giving them enough information upfront so they know what questions to ask later.
AI use cases and the future
The conversation took an interesting turn when panelists ventured into discussing what the future holds for real estate brokerages.
Wilson predicts more lawsuits challenging the need for agents to join REALTOR® associations to access property listings. She noted some states have already loosened these requirements.
The panel also noted that AI is rapidly changing how real estate agents and their brokerages are doing business.
Beardsley said AI is helping improve the property search for consumers and making good agents even more effective at their jobs. However, while AI can help smooth the bumps in a home purchase, it’s not entirely seamless—and that’s where a fantastic agent can take it to the finish line.
On the brokerage side, Wilson noted that brokers are seriously looking at AI for a practical reason.
“Their margins are horrible, and they’re not profitable companies,” Wilson explained. “Taking costs out of the process is helpful for them, and then that makes it faster to close, which means more cash flow.” In other words, she said, AI helps brokers expedite transactions and operate their companies more smoothly.
Scott said a good AI agent can help automate CRM tasks and transaction management, dramatically improving the customer experience.
Scott also noted that the industry needs better AI tools to help detect and stop the growing threat of wire and title fraud. In 2024 alone, roughly 9,300 real estate fraud complaints resulting in nearly $174 million in financial losses were reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, according to the agency’s 2024 Internet Crime Report.
One thing the panel heartily agreed on: Consumers want more information than ever before. They want it faster, and they want it to be accurate. Whether that’s a complete property history (think Carfax for houses), real-time flood risk data or AI assistants that never forget a client’s birthday, the pressure is on for brokerages to deliver.
