AI Disruption Presses Real Estate Stocks: Savills, British Land, IWG Fall as Investors Rethink Agent Roles

Real estate shares plunged amid investor bets that AI chatbots and tools could disintermediate estate agents, prompting a sell-off in Savills (-5.3% Feb 10), British Land (-2.4%), Landsec (-2.6%), and IWG (-4.8%). Similar volatility hit Wall Street, with Cushman & Wakefield down 14% and CBRE down 12% on the same date. ARLA Propertymark President Megan Eighteen said AI is transforming the sector, automating valuations, marketing, and inquiry handling, creating margin pressure and long-term relevance concerns, especially in London. She stressed lettings remains a people business, with compliance, negotiation, tenant quality, and local insight irreplaceable by algorithms. Thriving firms will use AI to enhance services. Analysts note while AI disruption is elevating portfolio volatility, the personal nature of real estate suggests fears may be overstated. AI tools like Altruist Corp’s tax assistant and a ChatGPT insurance price comparator have spiked selling in broader financial and tech sectors, including Relx (-34% in last 30 days) and Sage (-27%).