Key facts
- The housing market is experiencing a shift with buyers hesitant due to affordability and sellers adjusting expectations.
- Successful agents are focusing on client guidance and building trust rather than rapid transactions.
- Brokerages are prioritizing market share, profitability, and agent productivity over sheer headcount.
- AI is viewed as a tool to enhance agent efficiency and provide brokerages with faster insights, not as a replacement for human connection.
- Garrett advocates for brokers and agents to play a stronger role in the management and monetization of MLS data.
The current real estate market, while appearing stalled, is operating under new dynamics, according to Smokey Garrett, founder and operating principal of the GO Network at Keller Williams. He notes that after a period of low mortgage rates and rapid sales, buyers are now more cautious due to affordability issues, prompting sellers to recalibrate their expectations. Despite these shifts, underlying housing demand remains robust, with many individuals still actively searching for homes and making significant life changes.
Garrett suggests that agents who are succeeding in this environment are adopting a more deliberate approach. They are taking the time to help clients understand their options, thereby replacing uncertainty with clear and confident decision-making. This focus on client guidance and relationship-building is becoming a key differentiator.
For brokerages, Garrett emphasizes that growth is not solely about agent numbers. His team analyzes market share, profitability, the adoption rate of agent tools, and crucially, the productivity of individual agents. He posits that true scale is a local advantage, derived from meaningful influence within a community, rather than just a wide geographical spread of agents.