If you were to ask your favorite AI tool what’s ahead for the Puget Sound real estate industry, it might respond that you should have attended Seattle Agent magazine’s Accelerate Summit this week. 

AI was top of mind during the one-day event, which drew a large group of Puget Sound residential real estate professionals to the InterContinental Bellevue hotel in downtown Bellevue on Thursday, March 25. 

More than a dozen industry professionals — from top producers to brokerage leaders, economists to lenders — comprised eight panels offering insights on topics such as Washington’s recently enacted House Bill 1110, tips from the Puget Sound region’s top producers and a market outlook for the rest of 2026. 

During a nearly hour-long panel discussion on the role of AI in residential real estate, Sidekick CEO Michael Martin made his case for AI’s impact on the industry today and in the future. 

“The industry will be reshaped,” said Martin, who co-founded the San Francisco-based company in 2023. Sidekick bills itself as designed specifically to serve real estate professionals. Two years ago, the company struck a deal with the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® to offer integrated datasets and workflows to the organization’s 4,000 agents. 

According to Martin, agents are already using generative AI beyond the more basic tasks of marketing, content creation and prioritizing leads. Data-driven intelligence is increasingly a competitive advantage, with AI analyzing markets, behaviors and transaction data to quickly identify patterns that support smarter prospecting, better pricing insights and more personalized client engagement. 

In an informal survey during the panel, nearly everyone in the audience raised their hands when asked whether they use AI in their business today. 

“AI will exaggerate the natural capabilities of agents,” Martin added. “Great agents will be greater. The consumer’s view of agents will be more challenged because there will be more information available. The people in this room are already ahead of the curve because you are here. Wrap your arms around it, because it will be transformational.” 

AI wasn’t the only focus during the Accelerate Summit. Seattle Agent magazine will unpack the event in more detail next week, but for now, here are a few takeaways from this year’s Accelerate Summit: 

Analog Habits Still Matter

For all the attention paid to AI, it was refreshing to hear from one of Compass’ longtime managing brokers, Tere Foster, about one of her secrets to success — namely, a to-do list.

“I’m a list person. I have a list going all the time,” said Foster, who started in the industry during the 1980s and is a top producer in the nation today, with over $380 million in annual sales. “I literally cross things off so there’s no unfinished business, nothing pending.” Another pro tip? “I start early. I’m up at 5 a.m. I look at my calendar before I go to bed, so I know what’s going on the next day. You have to be organized and put in the time. That has never changed in my 40 years.” 

The Pipeline Myth

Jack Markham, chief marketing officer at Inside Real Estate, dismissed the notion that a pipeline of new leads is the industry’s holy grail. Why not revisit your own database, instead?

“Seventy to 80% of most agents’ databases are dormant,” he said. “The truth is that the best teams and agents aren’t generating new leads.” Markham encouraged people to activate their databases daily to drive conversations with potential clients, asking, “How can I take that database and fire it up?” 

2026 Market Outlook

Matthew Gardner, a local real estate economist, offered his insights into three key areas in 2026: Inventory (new listings up 3.8%), sales (regional sales up 4.1%) and prices (home prices up 3.4%). 

“I expect that the region’s ownership housing market will see modest sales and home price growth in 2026,” Gardner noted. “However, potential challenges, including economic fluctuations and housing affordability, will continue to act as headwinds when it comes to a return to a more balanced ownership housing environment.” 

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