Nearly half of agents say local markets favor buyers: Real survey
Real’s June survey also found that a majority of the growing brokerage’s agents are now putting AI tools to work every day to bolster their productivity.
The state of the housing market remains in flux as the country hits the peak of summer. While it may still be premature to formally declare it a buyers market, agents with Real Brokerage are noticing that buyers are indeed gaining more leverage in negotiations as inventory increases and homes sit on the market longer.
Local markets start favoring buyers: Of the over 140 agents who participated in Real's June agent survey, 48% said they witnessed buyers gain more control in their local markets. That share was up from 43% in May and 35% in March, signaling a trend that more agents are seeing local markets swing in buyers' favor.
Only 26% of respondents said their market favored sellers, while another 26% described current conditions as "balanced."
A July 21 Redfin report on pending home sales also highlighted the market's shift toward buyers. Redfin researchers found that 14.9% of pending sales fell through last month, the highest cancellation rate for the month of June since at least 2017. The uptick in cancellations indicates more buyers "have leverage," one Redfin agent suggested.
Transaction activity remains sluggish: While buyers may be gaining negotiating power in some areas, sales activity is mostly stagnant. Real's survey noted a modest improvement over the previous month, with 45% of agents saying they saw fewer transactions in their markets in June compared to the same period last year. Another 29% felt that transaction activity remained flat compared to June 2024, while only 23% of agents said sales were up.
Majority of agents are using AI: Real, which emphasizes its technology offerings for agents as a key brokerage strategy, found that the majority of its agents are now using AI in some way for their day-to-day business.
In June, nearly 58% of respondents said they use AI tools daily to boost their productivity and streamline workflows. Pritesh Damani, Real's chief technology officer, said in a press release that the findings "reinforce the industry's demand for advanced technology tools."
"While the survey shows that the primary use cases for AI used by agents today are predominantly focused on marketing, our vision extends much further," Damani said. "At Real, we are actively building technology to empower every part of the transaction workflow, from initial discovery and client engagement to the complexities of negotiation and the final close."