ToolsSource: HousingWire
89.6% of agents say CMAs get more important as AI grows — and 83% still want AI help
Original headline: “Most agents say CMAs will become more relevant, despite AI growth” — HousingWire, Oct 22, 2026
HousingWire reports that the 2026 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Listing Presentations by Giant Steps Advisors with Lone Wolf Technologies (2,165 U.S. real estate pros, November 2025–February 2026) found 89.6% said CMAs will become more relevant, up from 67% in 2020, while 83.2% said they were very or somewhat likely to use AI-assisted CMA tools. Respondents trusted the MLS above other comps sources (90.8%), with public portals including Zillow under 1% as the most trusted source; about two-thirds named pricing as the top seller objection (up from 52.7% in 2020), 33.6% said they lost a listing over price disagreement, and agents reported using fewer comps on average (maximum 8.7 vs 11 in 2020; minimum 3.7 vs five) amid low inventory and unique properties. Greg Robertson of Giant Steps Advisors told HousingWire \"Zillow can't smell the cat\" — local conditions still need a human narrative — and framed a good CMA as a presentation and persuasion tool, not just a research dump.
Our take (opinion & analysis, not reporting)
For listing agents: keep the CMA as your kitchen-table persuasion doc even if you use AI to pull comps or draft commentary — sellers still fight on price, and this survey says that objection got worse since 2020. Prefer MLS comps over portal AVMs when you build the grid, and spell out how you adjusted (paired sales, rates, judgment) so you can defend the number when the appraisal lands. If you buy AI CMA software, ask whether it plugs into your MLS export and CRM stages or just pastes another PDF into the same folder.
Online discussion: no notable public discussion found yet (checked Oct 23, 2026).