Home Insights Real estate Front runners: The property types more likely to benefit from rising AI adoption
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In the first installment of our artificial intelligence (AI) and real estate series, we introduce a framework to analyze the impact of the rising adoption of AI technologies on the commercial real estate environment. We will focus in greater detail on those sectors we believe will likely benefit the most from AI adoption in the near- to intermediate-term, including data centers, life sciences, logistics, and retail warehousing. We will discuss the remaining property sectors—those with smaller immediate gains and sectors at risk—in parts II and III of this series.

A framework for assessing AI’s impact on real estate

Ambitious pioneers laid the first rudimentary neural network algorithms aiming to simulate human intelligence as far back as the 1950s. Since then, this branch of computer science, commonly referred to as AI, has evolved dramatically, sparking the imagination of entrepreneurs and investors.

Today, new AI-enabled products and services have risen to popular fame and made their way into people’s lives. Digital assistants such as ChatGPT and Copilot are helping employees find and analyze information. Content-creation apps like Instagram and Stable Diffusion enable influencers and artists to edit pictures or create videos from a single text string. Meanwhile, car manufacturers and engineering companies are testing autonomous vehicles and smart robotics for commercial use.

And yet, the AI revolution and its implementation remain in its infancy. Being a general-purpose technology—it can be applied to virtually any sector due to its versatility, adaptability, and transformative potential—AI is likely to disrupt several fields, with far-reaching implications for society, businesses, and the economy.

Although the exact impact and ripple effects are difficult to predict with a high degree of certainty, of something we can be sure of—the real estate industry will not be immune. From smart buildings to warehouse robotics, AI has the potential to shift occupational demand and reshape the way properties are developed, operated, and valued. The implications are profound and wide-ranging, with different real estate sectors poised to experience varying degrees of change. Indeed, as much as the rise of e-commerce and hybrid working technologies have altered the structural drivers underpinning the demand-supply fundamentals of logistics, retail, and office buildings, the AI revolution will have its winners and losers. But what properties will be the primary beneficiaries of this new wave of innovations? And what are those exposed to the most significant downside risks?

This paper presents a framework to address these questions. The framework divides the impact of AI on the real estate environment across two variables: magnitude and effect. The magnitude dimension indicates whether the impact on a particular property type will be high, medium, or low over the medium term (five years). The effect dimension refers to the direction of the impact—positive, neutral, or negative. Our analysis has identified three groups of properties: front runners, marginal gainers, and stragglers.

EXHIBIT 1: Is AI a real estate friend or foe? The answer is sector-dependent
AI impact by property sector over the medium term (2025-2030)

AI impact by property sector over the medium term (2025-2030) in circle graph form
AI impact by property sector over the medium term (2025-2030) table information
Source: Principal Real Estate, December 2024.

Conclusion


The adoption of AI technologies is poised to reshape the real estate landscape, creating both opportunities and challenges across different property sectors. Our analytical framework highlights how AI’s transformative potential will likely drive varying levels of impact on property sectors and categorises these into three main groups: front runners, marginal gainers, and stragglers.

The front runners—data centers, life sciences and healthcare, logistics, and retail warehouses—are those real estate sectors that, in our view, are better positioned to gain from the rising adoption of AI, as this new technology will directly impact occupiers’ demand or will drive radical changes in tenants’ business models and core functions. Investors should also bear in mind that despite the aforementioned structural tailwinds, new waves of innovation are often paired with intra-sector compositional shifts. For example, the widespread adoption of warehouse robotics could widen the performance spread between newer and older logistics buildings. Equally, demand for AI-ready data centers could accelerate the technical obsolescence of less sophisticated facilities.

Thus, we recommend using our framework alongside other important investment considerations that are equally important but fall outside the scope of this paper, such as supply, asset quality, and microlocation. Partnering with a manager or operator with strong credentials, a proven track record, and solid sector expertise can help mitigate investment risks.

Real estate
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Risk considerations
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past Performance does not guarantee future return. All financial investments involve an element of risk. Therefore, the value of the investment and the income from it will vary and the initial investment amount cannot be guaranteed. Potential investors should be aware of the risks inherent to owning and investing in real estate, including value fluctuations, capital market pricing volatility, liquidity risks, leverage, credit risk, occupancy risk and legal risk. All these risks can lead to a decline in the value of the real estate, a decline in the income produced by the real estate and declines in the value or total loss in value of securities derived from investments in real estate. International investing involves greater risks such as currency fluctuations, political/social instability, and differing accounting standards.

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