With AI becoming increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives, a new study from Cotality reveals that 75% of buyers assume AI plays a role in the homebuying process, yet they still prefer to have a human involved as well.
“Homebuyers want the speed and scale of AI — but not at the expense of certainty,” Amy Gromowski, Head of Data Science at Cotality said. “With AI adoption accelerating the homebuying process across the United States, over 7 million mortgages are originated annually — representing several trillion dollars in combined lending volume each year. If AI-powered workflows shorten time to close by just one to three months, lenders can pull forward billions in repayments, recycle capital more efficiently, and expand capacity without increasing headcount.”
Cotality stated that with more than $2 trillion in mortgage originations annually nationwide, even modest improvements in efficiency could have significant implications for lenders and homebuyers alike. Cotality said it finds AI-driven workflows could shorten mortgage processing times by one to three months, helping buyers move into homes more quickly while enabling lenders to recycle capital more efficiently and increase capacity.
But as AI adoption grows, Cotality noted, trust is becoming harder to earn — particularly in the United States. The international study is the first of its kind to examine consumer sentiment toward AI’s role across the end-to-end homebuying journey.
AI Is Just Expected
Cotality noted that at least three-quarters of buyers assume AI is already embedded in the housing ecosystem and it said that buyers most expect AI in property websites (86%), insurers (82%) and lenders (80%), with agents (80%) and brokers (79%) close behind.
The data company noted, however, that a generational divide remains as 70% of baby boomers assume AI is embedded in the process, compared to 84% of millennials and 81% of Gen Zers.
U.S. buyer confidence in navigating the homebuying process has fallen from 83% in 2025 to 72% today, Cotality noted, while the share actively saving for a home has fallen from 75% to 69%.
And, Cotality said, younger buyers are more likely to see AI as part of the solution: 50% of Gen Z say it would increase their confidence in buying a home, compared with 40% of Millennials, 33% of Gen X, and 21% of Baby Boomers.
Cotality noted that Gen Z buyers also report a greater need for speed, particularly when securing legal assistance (46%) and insurance (39%).
In the United States, Cotality said that 37% of originated loans are attributed to buyers under 35, which puts a spotlight on the growing influence of younger buyers, and the need for faster AI-enabled experiences to match their expectations.
Some 68% of buyers say clear AI labeling for property listings and mortgage recommendations is either important or essential, and 37% say it should be mandatory, increasing to 61% among baby boomers.
Trust Has Fallen
In the U.S., Cotality said that trust in AI to help find a home has fallen by 14 percentage points from 30% in 2025 to 16% in 2026.
Buyers also want greater control over how AI is used, Cotality said, with almost half (46%) saying it is unacceptable for lenders or insurers to conduct automated AI valuations without prior approval. And, the study said that tolerance for AI mistakes is low with just 22% of Gen Z and 19% of millennials saying they are tolerant of AI errors, compared with 11% of Gen X and 9% of baby boomers.
AI-driven financial processes are also triggering stability concerns, Cotality noted, with 64% of buyers concerned that AI may “recycle” unverified information rather than use validated, first-party data.
While nearly half (48%) of buyers globally consider AI reliable for making fair-lending decisions, preference for working with human professionals has risen across every major task in the United States, Cotality said.
The data company said that 55% of U.S. buyers would prefer working with a person to secure a mortgage, compared with 46% last year. It said that two-thirds (66%) would rely on human professionals over AI for legal assistance (up from 54% in 2025), while 56% say they would trust a human expert’s guidance over AI when assessing natural disaster risk.
Buyers are open to digital simulations to understand climate risk, Cotality said, but they still want a human “safety net” when acting on that information. Cotality said that 44% of respondents said they would pay an additional fee to have a human expert verify AI-generated housing decisions.
“Buyers are not rejecting AI; they are asking for safeguards,” Gromowski said. “They recognize AI’s power to process massive datasets and speed up decisions. But when it comes to the largest financial transaction of their lives, accuracy and accountability are non-negotiable.”
