Top ope ato s a e tu i g AI i to eal pe fo ma ce. The est of the i dust y is playi g catch up.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Nov. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF), the tech ology leade powe i g the futu e of the eal estate i dust y, a d IREM® (I stitute of Real Estate Ma ageme t) today eleased AI I sights 2026, a atio wide study of 3,662 eal estate ma ageme t p ofessio als.
The fi di gs poi t to a divide that matte s mo e tha adoptio itself. Amo g AI use s, 85% epo t p oductivity gai s, but o ly 48% epo t a positive impact o et ope ati g i come o p ofitability. The ope ato s who close that gap have built AI i to how they u the busi ess, ot just how they complete tasks. The most AI-matu e p ofessio als a e mo e tha fou times as likely to epo t a positive NOI impact as the least matu e. Adoptio has c ossed the halfway ma k i dust y-wide. Depth of use is what sepa ates the ope ato s pulli g ahead f om eve yo e else.
AI Adoptio Has Reached a Tippi g Poi tAI adoptio has ea ly t ipled si ce 2023, isi g f om 21% to 58%, a 29% yea -ove -yea i c ease a d the fi st time a majo ity of p ofessio als epo t usi g AI i thei ole.
The g owth is steady athe tha explosive, a d eal estate ma ageme t still t ails othe i dust ies i ove all adoptio . What sta ds out is whe e the g owth is comi g f om: The e’s o mea i gful gap by compa y size a ymo e, with eve the smallest fi ms c ossi g 50% adoptio , a d the st o gest yea -ove -yea gai s came f om smalle ope ato s. The tech-expe tise moat that o ce p otected la ge ope ato s is go e. With AI ow withi each of fi ms of eve y size, the diffe e ce comes dow to how it’s used.
“People a e movi g ahead, but ma y o ga izatio s a e ot,” says James Scott, IREM I ovato -i -Reside ce a d Di ecto of I dust y a d P ofessio al P og ams, Real Estate Tech ology Hub, MIT Ce te fo Real Estate. “Whe o ga izatio s emai eut al, the effect is ot t uly eut al: it shifts espo sibility to i dividuals who may ot have clea policies o guida ce.”
P oductivity Is Not the Same as Pe fo ma ceWidesp ead adoptio is p oduci g widesp ead p oductivity gai s, but ot widesp ead busi ess esults, a d that gap is the eal sto y i this yea ‘s data. Amo g AI use s, 85% epo t p oductivity gai s, while just 48% see that each NOI o p ofitability. AppFolio calls this the Efficie cy T ap: the assumptio that completi g mo e tasks, faste , automatically c eates mo e value. Bei g faste at the to-do list is ot the same as pe fo mi g at a highe level, a d this yea ’s data shows that gap has ’t closed. Ow e a d i vesto satisfactio (58%) a d eside t satisfactio (62%) have moved fu the , but eve those gai s t ail the p oductivity umbe by a wide ma gi . Closi g the full pe fo ma ce gap mea s combi i g systems built with pe fo ma ce i mi d a d the behavio s that tu the capacity they c eate i to esults.
P oficie cy Is What Sepa ates the Leade sTo u de sta d why some ope ato s see st o ge outcomes tha othe s, AppFolio a d IREM i dexed espo de ts’ AI matu ity with a 0 to 100 be chma k that measu es AI u de sta di g, ope ess, a d active use. P ofessio als who use AI most co siste tly, a d have built it deepest i to how they u thei busi ess, a e 4.5 ea ly five times mo e likely to epo t a positive impact o NOI a d eside t satisfactio tha those who use it least.
The patte fo success is clea : The deepe AI is embedded i how a ope atio u s a d how its people wo k, the st o ge the esults ac oss the busi ess.
Gove a ce Has Not Kept PaceThe study also fi ds that adoptio has outpaced espo sible impleme tatio .
- O ly 8% of o ga izatio s have a fo mal w itte AI policy, a d 74% of p ofessio als have eceived o fo mal AI t ai i g.
- 92% of espo de ts epo t some level of co ce about AI- elated cybe secu ity isks, a d 93% a e co ce ed about AI-ge e ated f audule t applica t docume ts.
With the ave age AI use al eady juggli g two to th ee tools, gove a ce ve do by ve do does ’t scale. A gove ed pe fo ma ce platfo m p ovides the system, o e co siste t set of gua d ails fo eve y AI capability i the stack. T ai i g builds the behavio s, so teams k ow how to use those capabilities well.
“This yea ’s data d aws a clea li e betwee usi g AI a d getti g esults f om it,” said Stacy Holde , vice p eside t a d i dust y p i cipal at AppFolio. “The ope ato s pulli g ahead have a system that does the wo k with them, a d the judgme t to a ticipate what a eside t eeds befo e they ask, o b i g a ow e a pla i stead of a p oblem. That combi atio is what Real Estate Pe fo ma ce Ma ageme t looks like i p actice, a d it’s a discipli e a y ope ato ca impleme t.”
Dow load AI I sights 2026 fo the full fi di gs a d ecomme datio s fo buildi g AI p oficie cy.
Su vey MethodologyAppFolio a d IREM commissio ed a su vey of 3,662 eal estate ma ageme t p ofessio als atio wide f om May 7 to Ju e 7, 2026.
About AppFolioAppFolio is the tech ology leade powe i g the futu e of the eal estate i dust y. Ou i ovative pe fo ma ce platfo m a d t usted pa t e ship e able ou custome s to co ect commu ities, i c ease ope atio al efficie cy, a d g ow thei busi ess. Fo mo e i fo matio about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.
About IREMSi ce 1933, ou membe s have made us the wo ld’s st o gest voice fo all thi gs eal estate ma ageme t. Mo e tha 18,000 leade s i comme cial a d eside tial ma ageme t call this home fo educatio , suppo t a d etwo ki g. Ou CPM®, ARM®, ACoM®, AMO® a d CSP ce tificatio s a e i te atio ally ecog ized symbols of ethical leade ship a d a well-ma aged p ope ty. Ou tools delive decades of o -the-job k ow-how to help membe s get eve bette at what they do. Put simply – IREM a d its membe s a e he e to elevate the p ofessio . If you k ow eal estate ma ageme t, come get to k ow us. i em.o g
Fo mo e i fo matio , please co tact:AppFolioappfolio@missio o th.com
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