At Accelerate Summit by NewHomeSource, Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, joined Tim Sullivan, chief advisory officer at Zonda, for a conversation about how AI is reshaping the home buying journey.
From conversational search to immersive visualization, Florance’s message was clear: Consumer expectations are evolving, and the industry needs to be ready.
Here are three takeaways builders should be paying attention to.
1. Home search is becoming a conversation.
One of the most compelling moments at the summit came when Florance showcased the AI experience on Homes.com. Rather than relying on traditional keyword searches and filters, consumers can simply have a conversation about what they’re looking for in a home.
Want information about a community? Ask. Curious about schools, financing options, floor plans, or nearby amenities? Ask. Looking to compare neighborhoods or understand why one home is priced differently than another? The experience is more like working with a knowledgeable real estate guide instead of filling out a search form.
Florance noted that consumers who interact with the AI are more likely to return, a signal that home buyers are increasingly responding to conversational experiences rather than traditional search tools.
For builders, that shift could be significant. Future home-shopping experiences may depend less on navigation menus and more on intelligent conversations that help consumers quickly find what they’re looking for.
2. AI is making the home buying journey more visual.
Florance also painted a vision of a future where AI-powered visualization dramatically changes how consumers explore homes and communities.
He described emerging technologies that allow buyers to see, experience, and even modify homes in highly realistic digital environments before construction is complete.
Consumers can virtually tour an entire community, explore different floor plans, change finishes, and understand how a home fits within its surroundings before ever stepping on-site. Florance described a future in which increasingly realistic digital representations help bridge the gap between imagination and reality.
3. The industry is only beginning to understand AI’s impact.
Perhaps the most memorable moment came when Sullivan asked Florance about the future of AI and housing.
“We’re significantly underestimating how real it is,” Florance responded.
He compared AI to other transformative technology shifts, including personal computing, the internet, and mobile devices, stating that AI has the potential to touch nearly every aspect of real estate. From valuation and design to marketing and customer engagement, AI is expected to reshape how decisions are made and how expertise is delivered.
Florance also mentioned that AI will increasingly make specialized knowledge more accessible, giving consumers and professionals access to insights that previously required significant time and expertise to obtain.
What It Means for Builders
Florance’s message was clear: AI will increasingly shape how consumers experience the home buying process.
Buyers are becoming accustomed to instant answers, personalized recommendations, and immersive digital experiences in nearly every aspect of their lives, and housing will be no exception.
Builders can prepare by making home and community information easier to discover, creating richer digital content that helps buyers visualize homes before they are built, and identifying where AI can make the shopping experience more intuitive and engaging.
Builders that begin testing these capabilities now will be better positioned to meet evolving buyer expectations.
