New 2026 Delta Media AI Survey shows AI is ubiquitous in real estate, with 97% of brokers saying agents use AI as the industry shifts to safer, scaled adoption.
CANTON, OH, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Artificial intelligence has officially crossed the tipping point in real estate. According to the 2026 Delta Media Real Estate AI & Leadership Survey, nearly all brokerage leaders (97%) report their agents are now using AI, marking a decisive shift from experimentation to everyday business use. As adoption reaches near-universal levels, the industry’s attention is turning to how AI is implemented safely, responsibly, and at scale across brokerage operations.
Now in its third consecutive year, the Delta Media AI Survey remains the real estate industry’s definitive benchmark for how real estate brokerages and their agents are adopting and applying artificial intelligence. Conducted by Delta Media Group, a leading technology partner to more than 80 LeadingRE Affiliates and over 50 top-ranked brokerages nationwide, the 2026 survey reflects responses from more than 100 brokerage leaders representing firms responsible for over two-thirds of all U.S. real estate transactions last year.
“Over the past three years, we’ve watched AI move from curiosity to capability to becoming embedded in the average agent’s daily workflow,” said Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media Group. “AI use among brokerages has become virtually ubiquitous. In 2026, the question is how brokerages ensure AI is being used accurately, responsibly, and in ways that deliver real value to both agents and consumers.
Key findings from the 2026 Delta AI Survey
Adoption trends: AI is now a baseline business tool
• Real estate agent adoption jumped from 80 percent in 2024 to 97 percent in 2026.
• Brokerage non-adoption fell from 22 percent to just 4 percent in two years, an 82 percent decline.
• Leaders now rate AI’s current importance at 7 out of 10, with future importance rising to 8.
AI in action: where it’s making the biggest impact
• 82 percent of agents use AI to write listing descriptions, up from 58 percent in 2024.
• 74 percent use AI for content creation such as blogs, social posts, and email campaigns.
• 49 percent use AI to manage and plan their social media marketing.
Scaling responsibly: concerns haven’t disappeared
• 49 percent of brokerage leaders remain highly concerned about AI guardrails.
• Top barriers to AI adoption include privacy concerns, integration challenges, and compliance requirements.
• Smaller brokerages report the highest levels of concern about AI guardrails, citing limited access to compliance tools, integration support, and staff training resources. In contrast, leaders of larger firms say their scale provides strong safeguards and infrastructure to manage AI risks.
Deeper insights: Big shifts
• Leaders now rate AI’s current importance at 7 out of 10, rising to 8 out of 10 when looking ahead. In 2024, leaders rated AI’s importance at just 5 out of 10.
• 26% of brokerage leaders said content creation, including blogs, emails, and social posts, is the single most important use of AI in their firm, ahead of listing descriptions (15%) and marketing tools (7%).
• Concern about AI risks increased in 2026. After easing in 2025, 49% of leaders now rate their concern about AI guardrails between 7 and 10, citing data privacy, integration, and regulatory compliance as top challenges.
• Only 2% of brokerage leaders say they do not plan to adopt AI in 2026, down from 7% in the previous year. AI has become a strategic necessity across the industry.
• Survey responses also point to continued consolidation around all-in-one platforms that include AI, automation, and CRM capabilities, rather than standalone tools.
AI is no longer a tech experiment. It’s infrastructure.
Between 2024 and 2026, real estate brokerages moved from dabbling in AI to embedding it into core operations. From listing descriptions and marketing to agent training, CRM workflows, and business intelligence, AI is becoming the foundation of how brokerages operate and why Delta Media, Minard notes, became an “AI First” company last year.
“AI is now embedded in nearly every area of the brokerage business,” Minard added. “That brings new opportunities for brokerages to boost performance and efficiency. But AI also creates significant new responsibilities for broker-owners. Scaling AI that delivers measurable, daily value means working with a trusted technology partner who is not only AI First, but one that is part of the real estate industry, is well-seasoned at delivering to brokerages successful enterprise-grade solutions and knows how to best protect both the firm and its agents.”
What’s next for AI in real estate
Real estate leaders anticipate that 2026 will mark a new phase in the AI journey: one defined not by experimentation, but by integration. Brokerages are moving beyond surface-level applications and investing in platforms that embed AI into the operational backbone of the business. Sixty-three percent of leaders plan to expand AI use for social and digital marketing automation. More than half are prioritizing CRM and workflow automation, and 50 percent say they will deploy agentic AI tools to execute complex, multi-step tasks.
“The annual Delta survey highlights the fact that AI is reshaping real estate faster than any technology we’ve ever seen,” added Minard. “How brokerages operate, how agents deliver value, and how the entire real estate experience is managed will be changed forever by AI.”
Survey methodology
Over 100 real estate broker-owners and top-level management from brokerages responded in December 2025. Demographics: 62% were male, 34% female, and 4% chose not to answer. Forty-eight percent were at least 60 years old, 31% were 50-59, 15% were 40-49, and 6% were 39 or younger. For brokerage size, 2% have more than 1,000 agents, 3% have 501 to 1,000 agents, 29% have 101 to 500 agents, 35% have 21 to 100 agents, and 31% have 20 or fewer agents. Brokerages with transactions totaling more than $5 billion made up 12% of respondents, $1–$5 billion was 17%, $501 million to $1 billion was 9%, $101 million to $500 million was 24%, $51–$100 million was 12%, and less than $50 million was 36%.
About Delta Media Group
Delta Media Group, Inc. is America’s largest family-owned real estate technology provider for brokerages. Located in Canton, Ohio, it is the inventor of DeltaNET, known as the industry’s most advanced CRM-based, all-in-one digital marketing platform. One of the largest real estate technology solutions firms in the US, Delta Media is the trusted technology partner for more than 80 LeadingRE Affiliates and over 50 top-ranked brokerages nationwide. Discover more at deltamediagroup.com.
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