New Study Shows: AI Holds Significant Potential
The real estate sector represents a major part of the economy, processing vast volumes of incoming offers and invoices every year that must be captured and reviewed. At the same time, a growing shortage of skilled professionals — driven in part by demographic change — is creating increasing pressure on property owners and asset managers. This makes a strategic shift toward process optimisation not just desirable, but essential.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies presents substantial opportunities to automate key processes such as data extraction and document review.
The recently published “Digitalisation Study 2024 – AI: A Game Changer in the Real Estate Industry?”, commissioned by the ZIA – Zentraler Immobilien Ausschuss e.V. (of which we are also a member) and conducted by Ernst & Young Real Estate GmbH, provides valuable insights into how the industry assesses the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing AI solutions. Around 250 professionals from private and public real estate companies participated in the study.
The findings show that while AI has already begun to transform some organisations, its technical capabilities are far from being fully leveraged.
Perceived Potential of AI
81% of respondents see enormous automation potential for AI across many real estate processes. This opens up significant opportunities for improving operational efficiency and even creating entirely new business models.
Additionally, 79% believe that AI can help compensate for the shortage of qualified personnel.
Progress in AI Implementation
Despite the positive outlook, many companies are still in an early “orientation phase” and have yet to implement a fully developed AI strategy.
While 43% report that chatbots such as ChatGPT are already in use within their organisations, adoption rates in other AI application areas remain below 20%, often even below 10%. However, planned implementation rates in most categories range between 30% and 50%, indicating strong future momentum.
AI in Document Analysis
Only 17% of respondents currently use AI for document analysis (e.g. lease agreements). In contrast, 51% plan to introduce AI in this area.
Process Automation in Demand Analysis
Just 8% currently use AI for demand analysis tasks such as maintenance planning or occupancy management. However, 38% intend to implement AI solutions in these areas in the future.
Key Challenges
The most significant obstacles to AI implementation include:
- Integration into existing IT systems (26%)
- Lack of transparency and explainability of AI-driven decisions (24%)
- Skills gaps and training requirements among staff (18%)
In contrast, data security (13%), data protection (3%), insufficient real estate-specific specialisation (13%) and ethical concerns (3%) are perceived as less critical barriers.
Outlook
The study clearly demonstrates that AI is gaining importance, particularly in automating and optimising routine processes. Companies that adopt these technologies early can secure long-term competitive advantages.
However, unlocking AI’s full potential and achieving deep integration into existing workflows remains a key challenge.
Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the current state of digitalisation in the real estate industry and highlights that bold investment in AI could be a decisive factor for future success.
PropertyExpert’s AI-Based Solutions for Process Optimisation in Real Estate
I modules to relieve pressure on our own teams. Today, we have a dedicated in-house research and development team of ten specialists continuously advancing and refining our AI technologies.
As a market leader in the review of contractor offers and invoices for building damage repairs, we process an average of more than 3,000 completely unstructured documents per day for the insurance industry. These documents are analysed, classified and assessed using our highly efficient AI modules.
Two years ago, we decided to extend our expertise to the real estate sector and actively contribute to the industry’s urgently needed digital transformation.
For property owners, housing companies and property managers, we have developed a range of innovative AI-driven solutions that significantly optimise maintenance and repair processes — while reducing the workload on skilled professionals.
We believe in the powerful combination of human expertise and machine intelligence:
Our high-performance AI captures and analyses all incoming offer and invoice documents. Any irregular or potentially problematic records are automatically routed for detailed review by our team of more than 50 permanently employed trade experts covering over ten different crafts and disciplines.
The Benefits of Working with Us
- Tailored use cases designed specifically for each client
- Fast implementation, typically without major IT effort on the client side
- No large upfront investment required
- Efficient document capture and analysis
- Reliable, qualified review by experienced trade experts
- Access to a continuously updated, extensive benchmarking database for contractor services. Effectively eliminating the need to obtain multiple comparison quotes
If you would like to learn more about our AI-based solutions for the real estate sector, we would be delighted to arrange an initial, non-binding conversation.