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Technology is changing how real estate is marketed, bought, sold, and managed—but it does not have one predictable effect on property values. Digital tools are already common in U.S. real estate professionals’ workflows, while reported benefits from AI are mixed. In commercial property, many organizations are testing AI, but pilots are not proof of returns. For buyers and owners, the effect of technology or nearby infrastructure depends on the specific property and local conditions.
Where real estate technology is already being used
In the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2025 REALTORS® Technology Survey, U.S. respondents reported using digital tools for transactions and marketing at different rates. These figures describe surveyed REALTOR® members, not all agents, buyers, or markets worldwide.
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| Tool | Reported use | What it can support |
|---|---|---|
| eSignature | 79% | Signing transaction documents electronically |
| Social media | 75% | Property marketing and client outreach |
| Drone photography or video | 52% | Showing a property and its surroundings from the air |
| AI-generated content | 46% | Drafting marketing copy or other written material |
| Virtual tours | 38% | Letting prospective clients explore a property remotely |
These are self-reported technology-use rates from NAR’s 2025 survey, not evidence that a tool raises sale prices or shortens time on market. NAR identifies saving time and enhancing the client experience as leading reasons respondents adopt technology. Its report gives Matterport as an example of virtual-tour technology; that is an example of the category, not an endorsement of a current product. NAR’s 2025 REALTORS® Technology Survey report
What AI is—and is not—changing for agents
NAR’s 2025 survey found that 41% of respondents used AI or generative AI for business. Use varied in frequency: 20% said they used it daily, 22% weekly, 27% a few times a month, and 32% had not actively tried it for business. Examples of agent work include drafting listing descriptions, assisting with research, and supporting lead or client communications. The figures show reported use, not that AI can reliably perform those tasks without review.
#1 Best Overall
Adoption and perceived benefit are different measures. Asked about AI’s impact on their business, 17% of respondents reported a significantly positive impact, 33% a moderately positive impact, and 46% no noticeable impact. These are respondents’ perceptions, not a causal productivity study or proof that AI improves transaction outcomes. In the same survey, 82% of agents said clients responded positively or very positively to technology. NAR reported these results in its September 18, 2025 release.
The survey was fielded in July 2025: NAR invited 49,233 active REALTORS® and received 1,241 usable responses, a 2.5% response rate. NAR reported a margin of error of plus or minus 2.78 percentage points at 95% confidence. The results are useful evidence of what responding U.S. members reported, but they should not be treated as a universal census or as a measure of buyer-wide adoption. Survey methodology and report
Rank #2
NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz summarized the balance this way: “Technology continues to be a powerful force in real estate, driving efficiency and marketing innovation. But at the heart of it all remains the trusted relationship between the agent and client.” NAR, September 18, 2025
The Tool Desk
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Commercial property owners, investors, landlords, and occupiers may use technology to inform decisions about buildings, portfolios, and business operations. JLL’s 2025 survey analysis, covering more than 1,000 senior commercial real estate decision-makers across 16 markets, reported that AI pilots had begun at 92% of occupiers and 88% of investors, owners, and landlords. JLL also reported that 87% of investor respondents were increasing technology budgets due to AI. These are survey findings about trials and budgets, not proof that deployments have scaled or generated returns. JLL’s 2025 Global Real Estate Technology Survey analysis
From building data to operating decisions
Connected building systems can help collect and organize information about energy use, facility operations, and how space is used. Whether that information leads to better decisions depends on whether systems can share reliable data and whether people can use it effectively. JLL identifies data preparation, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and implementation strategy as material considerations; a technology pilot alone does not establish energy savings or lower operating costs.
What a pilot needs before it can scale
- A specific business goal: Define the decision or workflow the tool is meant to improve.
- Usable data: Check that relevant building and business records are accurate, accessible, and compatible.
- Security and governance: Decide who can access information, how it is protected, and how systems will be monitored.
- Integration and adoption: Assess how the tool fits existing systems and whether staff can use it reliably.
- Evidence of results: Set a way to evaluate the outcome against the existing process before expanding the pilot.
JLL’s survey is industry research, not an independent measurement of realized financial returns. Its 2026 analysis also describes the effects of AI on commercial real estate as varying by industry and market, with supply conditions and asset quality shaping outcomes. JLL’s 2026 analysis of AI and commercial real estate
Why technology does not have one effect on property values
Technology can affect property markets through several channels: it can change how people search for and present homes, influence how buildings are operated, or alter demand for particular types of commercial space and infrastructure. Those channels do not point in a single direction. A tool’s popularity among agents, for example, does not establish a sale-price effect; a change in demand for a commercial asset does not automatically predict nearby residential values.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What buyers should check when a home is near a data center
A data center may be relevant to a home search, but county-level statistics cannot tell a buyer what a specific nearby property will be like. NAR’s September 2026 coverage of its Data Center Impact report says 92% of more than 3,200 U.S. counties tracked had no mapped data centers and only 1% had ten or more. It reports median home values of $174,500 in counties with no data centers and $431,750 in counties with ten or more, while cautioning that the difference does not show that data centers caused higher values.
The same coverage reports that residential electricity rates rose 21.4% from 2020 to 2024 in counties with ten or more data centers, compared with 15.7% in counties without data centers. That county-level association does not establish that data centers caused the rate difference, or predict the bill for a particular household. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said “there is no single data center effect,” adding: “We do not see evidence of weaker housing markets in counties with a large data center presence. But these are county-level numbers, and they can’t tell us what happens to an individual home next to a facility.” NAR’s coverage of its Data Center Impact report
Questions to investigate for the specific property
- Noise: Visit at different times, listen from inside and outside, and ask about current or planned facility equipment and operating hours.
- Water: Look for local information about the facility’s water use and the area’s water constraints.
- Electricity and utilities: Check local utility rates, infrastructure plans, and whether costs or service conditions are changing.
- Expansion: Review public planning or permitting information for proposed construction, new substations, or other infrastructure changes.
- Property-specific market evidence: Compare nearby homes with relevant differences in distance, location, and property characteristics rather than relying on a county median.
NAR’s county comparison is useful context, not a substitute for local records, direct observation, and property-level analysis. Its coverage does not establish the effect of living beside a particular facility. NAR’s data-center analysis and qualifications
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How to evaluate a real estate technology choice
Whether you are choosing a marketing tool, transaction system, or building platform, compare it against the job it needs to do—not a general promise that “technology” will improve results. The evidence available here documents adoption and implementation concerns, but does not rank technologies by return on investment.
- Define the job. Identify the workflow, decision, or client need the tool should address.
- Seek comparable outcome evidence. Ask whether results have been demonstrated for a similar property, team, or operating environment, and distinguish a measured result from a user’s impression or a pilot.
- Calculate the full cost. Include purchase or subscription costs, setup, maintenance, training, and any continuing service needs.
- Check compatibility and data quality. Confirm the tool works with existing systems and that the information it depends on is reliable.
- Review privacy and security. Understand what client, transaction, occupant, or building data is collected, who can access it, and how it is protected.
- Test usability and local constraints. Consider staff and client experience, connectivity, utility capacity, and applicable local requirements.
- Set a review point. Compare a limited trial with the existing process before making a wider commitment.
This framework is a practical way to assess fit, not a universal formula for predicting returns. Technology can make real estate work more digital and data-informed, but the value of a particular tool or property remains dependent on its use, implementation, asset, and market.
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