Property sector hit as investors bet AI can replace estate agents

Pui-Guan Man

Fri, February 13, 2026 at 2:40 AM GMT+9 2 min read

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Property companies have been caught up in the AI sell-off as traders bet on chatbots replacing estate agents.

Shares in Savills fell by more than 5pc on Thursday, while British Land and Landsec each lost more than 2pc. Office landlord IWG also fell by more than 4pc.

The sell-off spread to the FTSE after a similar bout of volatility on Wall Street, where property giants Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE fell by 14pc and 12pc respectively.

It signals growing fears that investors are beginning to regard the property sector as vulnerable to advances in AI, in a similar vein to other service-based industries such as wealth management.

Megan Eighteen, the president of ARLA Propertymark, an association of residential letting agents, said that AI is “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,” she said.

“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.”

However, Ms Eighteen sought to downplay fears that estate agents could be replaced by AI entirely.

“Lettings remains a people business,” she said. “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. The recent share price weakness reflects uncertainty, not the end of the traditional agent, but a shift in how we operate.”

John Cahill, an analyst at Stifel, said: “I’m not sure how well-founded these fears are – there have been attempts to disintermediate estate agencies before, notably with Purplebricks, but given the personal nature of the housing market, it has remained almost exclusively a physical salesperson-driven industry.”

It comes after billions were wiped from British stockbrokers and wealth managers this week over fears that AI chatbots could replace them.

Among those worst affected were St James’s Place, AJ Bell and Quilter.

An AI tax tool launched by Altruist Corp, purporting to read payslips, meeting notes and other documents to help advisors create personalised tax strategies, spurred on the sell-off.

Elsewhere, a new insurance price comparison app on ChatGPT drove down price comparison sites such as MoneySuperMarket on Tuesday.

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Other businesses caught in the crossfire include data giant Relx, accounting software group Sage and credit score company Experian.

Relx has plummeted by around 34pc over the past month, while Sage has lost nearly 27pc of its value.

Mr Cahill said: “It seems at the moment that any hint of AI infiltration (e.g. St James’s Place earlier this week) is a cause for an equity sell-off. It will have an impact, of course, but not necessarily that significantly in some industries, of which I would say estate agency is one.”

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