The AI future of real estate runs straight through the MLS

The real estate industry is entering a decisive window as agentic AI moves from novelty to infrastructure.

WAV Group’s new strategic white paper lays out how autonomous systems capable of planning, reasoning and executing multi-step workflows will reshape how brokers, agents, MLSs and vendors operate.

Unlike generative tools that answer prompts, agentic AI proactively manages transactions, qualifies leads, processes documents and orchestrates end-to-end tasks.

The paper frames the next 36 months as a race defined less by algorithms and more by data control and distribution.

WAV Group identifies six companies with the data foundations to lead — Cotality, ICE Mortgage Technology, Zillow Group, Fidelity National Financial, First American Financial, and CoStar Group.

Their advantage is not model sophistication but proprietary property, transaction and behavioral data accumulated over decades, the paper states.  

For agents and brokers, this means artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will increasingly be delivered inside the platforms they already use.

“The fundamental principle driving the next era of real estate technology is deceptively simple: AI is only as good as the data it consumes,” the paper stated. “And when the plumbing of an industry changes by making things connect more simply, safer and shared, that’s not a passing trend.

“That’s the beginning of a long-term shift. Agentic AI is here to stay because it’s no longer about the demo. It’s about the baseplate of building an AI strategy.”

The MLS remains immovable

The paper is unequivocal about one structural reality — the MLS cannot be bypassed.

Companies that partner with MLSs will accelerate, while those that attempt to route around them face resistance and degraded AI accuracy, researchers said.

“When a property goes on the market, the authoritative record of that listing from the status, price, terms, showing instructions and real-time updates, lives in the MLS,” the paper stated. “This is not merely a distribution channel; it is the source of truth for active inventory.”

What it means for agents and brokers

Single-function tools — CRMs, transaction management, marketing automation, lead sales — face existential pressure as agentic platforms absorb their capabilities.

The paper shows how over the course of three phases; foundation, acceleration and transformation, AI is generally moving from assisting in tasks to orchestrating entire transactions.

By 2028, WAV Group predicts fewer platforms, deeper MLS integration and a redefined agent value proposition centered on relationships and negotiation.