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The company’s AI in Housing: 2026 report found only 40 per cent of Australian buyers are willing to accept AI-automated property valuations, compared with 62 per cent in Canada, 52 per cent in the US, and 46 per cent in the UK.
Cotality chief data officer Craig Dargusch said the findings highlighted a trust challenge for the local property sector as AI becomes more embedded in search, valuation, lending, and insurance.
“Australian buyers are not rejecting AI outright. They are setting a higher bar for where it can be trusted,” Dargusch said.
“When the decision involves someone’s home, mortgage, or insurance premium, speed alone will not be enough. Buyers want accurate data, clear disclosure, and a human backstop when the stakes are high.”
For young people, adoption has been less tepid. Moneysmart, a financial advice service run by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), found that one in five Gen Z uses AI to make decisions about their financial future.
Hard line on errors
The report also found Australian buyers were less tolerant of errors in property data than their global counterparts.
While 33 per cent of home buyers globally said they had zero tolerance for errors in listing data, regardless of whether the mistake came from a human or AI system, that figure rose to 42 per cent among Australian buyers.
Dargusch said this was significant in a market where buyers increasingly rely on digital platforms to compare properties, prices, suburbs, and risks before speaking with an agent or lender.
“A single error in a listing, valuation or risk assessment can do real damage to trust,” he said.
“Australian buyers are telling the industry that AI needs to be accurate, explainable and accountable before it becomes central to property decisions.”
Underlying use
Globally, the report found buyers already assume AI is playing a role in the home-buying process, with three in four respondents believing AI is involved in some way and 86 per cent assuming property websites use AI.
However, 68 per cent of buyers globally said they wanted clear notification when AI generated a property listing, price, or mortgage recommendation, while the same proportion said they would manually verify AI-generated housing information.
The report also found 44 per cent of buyers globally would pay an additional fee for a human expert to verify AI-generated housing decisions.
“The next stage of AI in property will be defined by trust,” Dargusch said.
“The companies that can show where the data comes from, how decisions are made, and who is accountable when something goes wrong will have the advantage.”
Cotality chief commercial officer Lisa Jennings said transparency would be critical to broader industry confidence in AI.
“AI can help the property industry move faster and make better-informed decisions, but the commercial value will come from using it in a way people trust,” Jennings said.
“That means being clear about how a model has informed an outcome, backing it with reliable data, and making sure clients and consumers can still rely on human expertise when the decision carries real weight.”
According to the report, the industry has now moved beyond questioning whether AI is present in property transactions, with buyers instead focused on how the technology is being used, the data behind it, and whether outcomes can be challenged.
“The Australian market has an opportunity to get this right early,” Dargusch said.
“AI can support faster and better-informed property decisions, but only if the industry builds confidence around the technology. For Australian buyers, trust is the product.”
[Related: AI heavyweights unveiled as keynote speakers for Broker Innovation Summit 2026]
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