Property company shares have been caught up in a wider AI-driven market sell-off after investors began betting that automation could reshape parts of the estate agency and commercial property sector.
Savills’ shares fell 7.5% in London trading last week, while International Workplace Group, owner of Regus, dropped 9%. British Land and Landsec lost 2.6% and 2.4% respectively, with the sell-off spreading across listed property businesses.
It followed heavy losses on Wall Street, where US property giants CBRE plunged 12.5%, Jones Lang LaSalle fell nearly 11%, and Cushman & Wakefield dropped 9.1% over two volatile sessions.
investor anxiety
Analysts say the moves reflect growing investor anxiety that AI tools could squeeze margins in service-led industries. The Telegraph reports that estate agency is increasingly being grouped alongside wealth management and other advisory sectors seen as particularly vulnerable to digital disruption.
Jade Rahmani, Commercial Real Estate Analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, told the Guardian that investors were pulling out of “high-fee, labour-intensive business models viewed as potentially vulnerable to AI-driven disruption”, but adds, “The sell-off may overstate the immediate risk to complex deal-making, even as the long-term AI impact remains a ‘wait-and-see’.”
A lot of the tasks that traditionally justified fees, such as valuations, marketing copy, and enquiry handling, can now be automated quickly and efficiently.”
Megan Eighteen, President of ARLA Propertymark, told The Telegraph that AI is already “changing the landscape” for property companies.
“A lot of the tasks that traditionally justified fees, such as valuations, marketing copy, and enquiry handling, can now be automated quickly and efficiently. That naturally creates concern around margin pressure and long-term relevance, which investors are clearly reacting to, particularly in London, where agency and portal stocks are highly exposed to tech disruption.
“Lettings remains a people business. Compliance, negotiation, tenant quality, and local market insight can’t simply be replicated by an algorithm. The agencies that will thrive are those using AI to enhance their services, not replace the human element.”