Real-Estate Agents Look To AI For Sales Boost

Information-technology executives at some real-estate firms are rolling out artificial-intelligence-based tools designed in part to help agents close deals faster, which could prove useful in today’s hot housing market.

While the selling and buying of homes remains an agent-driven business, IT leaders say such tools can augment their efforts, especially in a market with record prices and tight inventory.

“AI can play a significant role in simplifying and automating processes where traditionally humans have been involved,” said Rizwan Akhtar, chief technology officer of business technology at Realogy Holdings Corp., which owns brokerage brands including Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sotheby’s International Realty.

Artificial-intelligence efforts in the real-estate sector are benefiting from advances in cloud computing and data analytics, as well as improvements to algorithms, according to technology leaders at Realogy, Compass Inc. and Zillow Group Inc.

Realogy uses more than 25 AI models, Mr. Akhtar said, including models that can help agents predict their chances of converting a prospective client into a paying client and others that can predict the optimal percentage split between a broker and an agent on a property.

The company is in the early stages of testing an AI app that aims to predict when certain milestones will be reached in the home-buying process, he said.

At real-estate brokerage Compass, an AI-based tool that predicts whether people in an agent’s contact database are likely to sell their homes within a year resulted in more “listing wins” for its agents, said Joseph Sirosh, the company’s chief technology officer. In the second half of 2020, the tool’s recommendations led to a 94% higher “win rate” than the rate for properties that weren’t identified as likely to sell, he said. The technology was released last summer.

Agents reach out directly to people identified by the tool as likely to sell. Traditionally, agents knock on doors, rely on word-of-mouth referrals and make calls to meet potential clients, Mr. Sirosh said. “Agents save time when they are far more targeted,” he said. The model takes into account dozens of variables to make a prediction, including how often homes sell in that region, what the last sale price was and how much the home has appreciated over time, he said.

Realogy offers agents a similar tool.

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in boosting adoption of AI tools among agents, Mr. Sirosh said. During the height of the pandemic, “agents could not work without technology which meant that everything associated with technology, like AI, which provides efficiencies, became incredibly useful,” he said.

Online real-estate company Zillow recently announced that its Zestimate tool, which estimates a home’s market value, is powered by a neural network that learns on its own and takes into account hundreds of millions of data points. The data range from the home’s square footage and unique features to location and how the property differs from surrounding homes, said Stan Humphries, the company’s chief analytics officer.

A neural network is a branch of artificial intelligence that aims to mimic the way the human brain learns.

AI-based models can’t account for human intuition or empathy, though. Buying and selling a home is a “deeply emotional, very risky transaction,” Mr. Humphries said. “Humans are always going to want another person, an expert, to help them with that process.”

AI can add value for agents in incremental ways but real estate will always be a heavily people-focused industry, said Mike DelPrete, scholar in residence on real estate technology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Real-estate companies sometimes tout their prowess in technology and AI to attract agents, Mr. DelPrete said. But the degree to which agents will actually adopt AI and other software tools is uncertain, he added.

“More people are talking about AI in the real-estate industry as a point of differentiation…but the reality on the ground is that it’s more of a marketing tagline,” Mr. DelPrete said.

The marketplace has spoken and, at least for now, it’s showing preference for hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) over battery electrics. That makes Toyota’s foot dragging on EVs (and full speed ahead on hybrids) look fairly wise, though the timeline along a bumpy road still gets us to full electrification by 2035.

Italian supercar producer Lamborghini, in business since 1963, is also proceeding, incrementally, toward battery power. In an interview, Federico Foschini , Lamborghini’s chief global marketing and sales officer, talked about the new Urus SE plug-in hybrid the company showed at its lounge in New York on Monday.

The Urus SE interior gets a larger centre screen and other updates.
Lamborghini

The Urus SE SUV will sell for US$258,000 in the U.S. (the company’s biggest market) when it goes on sale internationally in the first quarter of 2025, Foschini says.

“We’re using the contribution from the electric motor and battery to not only lower emissions but also to boost performance,” he says. “Next year, all three of our models [the others are the Revuelto, a PHEV from launch, and the continuation of the Huracán] will be available as PHEVs.”

The Euro-spec Urus SE will have a stated 37 miles of electric-only range, thanks to a 192-horsepower electric motor and a 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery, but that distance will probably be less in stricter U.S. federal testing. In electric mode, the SE can reach 81 miles per hour. With the 4-litre 620-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine engaged, the picture is quite different. With 789 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque on tap, the SE—as big as it is—can reach 62 mph in 3.4 seconds and attain 193 mph. It’s marginally faster than the Urus S, but also slightly under the cutting-edge Urus Performante model. Lamborghini says the SE reduces emissions by 80% compared to a standard Urus.

Lamborghini’s Urus plans are a little complicated. The company’s order books are full through 2025, but after that it plans to ditch the S and Performante models and produce only the SE. That’s only for a year, however, because the all-electric Urus should arrive by 2029.

Lamborghini’s Federico Foschini with the Urus SE in New York.
Lamborghini

Thanks to the electric motor, the Urus SE offers all-wheel drive. The motor is situated inside the eight-speed automatic transmission, and it acts as a booster for the V8 but it can also drive the wheels on its own. The electric torque-vectoring system distributes power to the wheels that need it for improved cornering. The Urus SE has six driving modes, with variations that give a total of 11 performance options. There are carbon ceramic brakes front and rear.

To distinguish it, the Urus SE gets a new “floating” hood design and a new grille, headlights with matrix LED technology and a new lighting signature, and a redesigned bumper. There are more than 100 bodywork styling options, and 47 interior color combinations, with four embroidery types. The rear liftgate has also been restyled, with lights that connect the tail light clusters. The rear diffuser was redesigned to give 35% more downforce (compared to the Urus S) and keep the car on the road.

The Urus represents about 60% of U.S. Lamborghini sales, Foschini says, and in the early years 80% of buyers were new to the brand. Now it’s down to 70%because, as Foschini says, some happy Urus owners have upgraded to the Performante model. Lamborghini sold 3,000 cars last year in the U.S., where it has 44 dealers. Global sales were 10,112, the first time the marque went into five figures.

The average Urus buyer is 45 years old, though it’s 10 years younger in China and 10 years older in Japan. Only 10% are women, though that percentage is increasing.

“The customer base is widening, thanks to the broad appeal of the Urus—it’s a very usable car,” Foschini says. “The new buyers are successful in business, appreciate the technology, the performance, the unconventional design, and the fun-to-drive nature of the Urus.”

Maserati has two SUVs in its lineup, the Levante and the smaller Grecale. But Foschini says Lamborghini has no such plans. “A smaller SUV is not consistent with the positioning of our brand,” he says. “It’s not what we need in our portfolio now.”

It’s unclear exactly when Lamborghini will become an all-battery-electric brand. Foschini says that the Italian automaker is working with Volkswagen Group partner Porsche on e-fuel, synthetic and renewably made gasoline that could presumably extend the brand’s internal-combustion identity. But now, e-fuel is very expensive to make as it relies on wind power and captured carbon dioxide.

During Monterey Car Week in 2023, Lamborghini showed the Lanzador , a 2+2 electric concept car with high ground clearance that is headed for production. “This is the right electric vehicle for us,” Foschini says. “And the production version will look better than the concept.” The Lanzador, Lamborghini’s fourth model, should arrive in 2028.

Real-Estate Agents Look To AI For Sales Boost

American technology leaders at Realogy, Compass and Zillow hope to augment human savvy with algorithms.