Homes.com Debuts AI-Powered Home Search
Real estate portal Homes.com has launched an AI-powered home search platform built using Microsoft Azure OpenAI. The new feature allows for more natural and conversational property searches. This move exemplifies a broader trend of embedding large language models and agentic workflows directly into consumer-facing real estate platforms.
- Parent company CoStar Group acquired Homes.com in 2021 for $156 million in cash as part of a strategy to expand into the residential real estate sector. - CoStar Group is backing Homes.com with a marketing campaign reportedly worth over $1 billion, which has included multiple high-profile Super Bowl commercials in 2024 and 2025 featuring celebrities like Dan Levy, Heidi Gardner, and Jeff Goldblum. - The platform operates on a "Your Listing, Your Lead" model, which differs from competitors by sending all buyer inquiries directly to the listing agent rather than selling leads to other agents. - The new AI search functionality is designed to move beyond traditional filters, allowing users to make conversational queries by voice or text, such as "find a house with high ceilings near good schools." - The AI tool leverages CoStar's proprietary data, including Matterport 3D tours, neighborhood information, and school data, and is built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI. - Under CoStar's ownership, Homes.com's traffic has grown significantly, with the company reporting it surpassed 110 million monthly unique visitors in early 2024, positioning it as a top competitor to Zillow and Realtor.com. - David Mele, who had been president of Homes.com since 2014 and guided it through the CoStar acquisition, departed the company in May 2024 to pursue opportunities outside of real estate. - CoStar Group's founder and CEO, Andy Florance, has stated the goal of Homes AI is to enhance the role of real estate agents by connecting them with more informed buyers, not to replace them.
