Homes Launches AI Smart Search Powered by TravelTime

Introducing Smart Search

Homes.com, a leading online property marketplace operated by CoStar Group, recently launched Smart Search, a new AI-powered way for consumers to explore homes using free-text search.

Smart Search allows Homes’ 100 million+ monthly visitors to “search the way they speak and find homes that match their lifestyle faster and easier than ever.” It moves beyond rigid filters and traditional keyword queries to deliver more personalised, relevant results in an instant.

Built on advanced natural language technology, Smart Search reflects a broader shift in how people expect to search: intuitive, conversational, and grounded in real-life priorities.

It allows “people to simply ask for what they want, in their own words, and see accurate, personalised results instantly.”

Read the full CoStar Press Release.

Why AI Search Changes Property Discovery

Finding a home has never been a purely tick-box process. It’s about trade-offs, routines, and how a place fits into everyday life.

AI-powered free-text search reflects that reality. It lets users express what truly matters to them, whether that’s a manageable commute, good public transport links, access to green space, or walkable amenities.

As a result, location intelligence is critical. When users search in terms of time, connectivity, and daily journeys, property portals need to understand proximity the way people do — in minutes and modes of transport, not straight-line distance on a map.

Where TravelTime Fits In

AI search is only as strong as the data behind it.

Free-text search opens the door to richer, more human queries. But delivering accurate results at scale requires precise, real-world location data that can translate intent into reality. Too often, journey time and transport data is the missing piece of effective AI search.

People don’t think in miles or kilometres. They think in 20-minute commutes, walkable neighbourhoods, and easy access to schools, parks, or transit networks. Matching those expectations depends on fast, multi-modal travel time data that reflects how people actually move.

TravelTime provides property platforms with:

• Accurate travel times across multiple transport modes
• Real-world journey data at scale to support millions of queries
• Isochrones, routes, H3, and matrices to suit your product needs
• Unlimited API usage for a single fixed price

This allows AI-driven search experiences like Homes’ Smart Search to scale across millions of queries without performance issues or the taxi-meter effect of transactional pricing.

“AI search is only as good as the data that powers it. Matching free-text intent to real-world travel times — whether that’s commuting, transit access, or lifestyle needs — is what creates relevance. TravelTime is proud to support the next generation of marketplace search with accurate, scalable location intelligence.”

Charlie Davies

CEO & Co-Founder, TravelTime

What This Means for the Market

At TravelTime, we believe that the launch of Smart Search is part of a wider shift across property portals and online marketplaces toward AI-driven, location-aware discovery.

Users are demanding richer, more intuitive search interactions, and increasingly expect search to understand nuance. Ignoring parts of their query is no longer acceptable.

“If you let users search for anything, you better be able to service their demands. Receiving a polite ‘this part of your search query was ignored’ message makes users wish it was still 2024, with the comfort of a few filters and no misplaced hope in something genuinely better.”

Chris Hutchinson

Chief Customer Officer, TravelTime

Platforms that combine natural language search with accurate travel time intelligence will be best placed to meet rising expectations and genuinely understand user intent.

What’s Next for Property Portals?

Congratulations to Homes.com on the launch of Smart Search. It’s a meaningful step forward for property discovery.

If you’re building AI-powered, free-text search into your platform and want to ground it in real-world location data, we’d love to talk.

Chat to us or get started with a free API key.