Estate agents, licensed professionals who represent buyers and sellers, typically earn commission based on the final sale price. With artificial intelligence (AI) and online marketplaces now letting people list, search and transact directly, their role may be changing dramatically.
Before the internet, buyers and sellers relied on newspaper classifieds. While that still exists to a degree, online platforms have radically simplified the process.
“Across real estate, whether you’re selling, buying, renting, or brokering, the goals are similar. Sellers want speed and higher prices, agents want relevance and profit, and buyers or renters want the best match at the lowest cost. AI is ultimately about efficiency and aligning those objectives,” said Simon Baker, global PropTech leader.
Baker, a former CEO of ASX-listed REA Group, PropTech Group, and Mitula Group was speaking at the Real Estate Industry Summit in Johannesburg in late 2025.
He said despite pockets of innovation, the real estate industry still looks much the same as it did 10, 20 or even 30 years ago. However, over the past decade, tech-enabled brokerages have begun to change that. These companies place technology at the heart of their business and treat sales as a process, automating low-value tasks that humans handle inconsistently and integrating everything from mortgages and insurance to removals.
For 25 years, Baker has been involved in the global proptech industry. When he joined the REA Group in 2001, it was valued at $8 million and by the time he left in 2008, its market cap had grown to $1 billion. Today, its value is more than $30 billion and it ranks among the world’s largest proptech players.
Baker said the success of the real estate companies he has founded, worked for, advised, or invested in lies in their use of technology to fundamentally change how they operate, enabling them to scale faster.
“By using unique data to improve accuracy and curb AI hallucinations and continually optimising their workflows, these agencies scale faster, deliver more consistent customer experiences, and achieve higher profitability.”
Leveraging technology
Baker gave an example of Beike Holdings in China, a listed online-offline real estate platform that began as a traditional brokerage and reinvented itself digitally. Today, it has about 450 000 salespeople, handles roughly 30% of transactions nationwide (and up to 65% in some cities), runs multiple brands with 78% brand recognition and integrates sales, rentals, and renovations on a single tech platform. It generates billions in revenue and profits, with a market capitalisation of more than $22 billion on the New York Stock Exchange.
He said South Africa is unlikely to produce a company of that scale, but many companies globally are adopting similar models. Examples include AoCubo in Brazil, which is digitalising property sales, Lazudi in Thailand and IQI in Malaysia, a major PropTech agency now operating in more than 30 countries with tens of thousands of agents.
“What makes this possible is the rapid adoption of technology. About 40% to 50% of the industry is already using AI in some form. Companies such as Beike built their systems from scratch; today, the tools exist for others to adopt,” he added.
A South African perspective
While South Africa hasn’t matched global levels of technology adoption, many real estate players have embraced AI, some well before the Covid-19 pandemic and others rapidly once lockdowns brought property transactions and viewings to a standstill for months.
Buyers and sellers have long been able to browse and list their homes on platforms such as Property24 and Private Property.
Still, South African agencies don’t see AI replacing smart estate agents, they see it reshaping excellence, with future agents expected to be data-savvy, emotionally intelligent, and relationship-focused.
Asked whether estate agents are relevant in the age of AI, the answer is increasingly complex. For many agencies, AI is already saving time by automating administrative tasks, powering virtual tours, and delivering data platforms that help target the right buyers.
Globally, companies such as Beike have scaled by shifting from traditional brokerage models to digital, technology-driven businesses, with tech at the heart of their operations. South Africa has not reached that level of adoption as estate agents remain central to how the market works, for now at least – but for how long?
Anyone who has bought, sold, or rented through an agent usually has a story and not always a pleasant one. Some properties fall apart after purchase despite professional involvement, some buyers are scammed, commissions remain high, and homes can take years to sell despite expert advice.
If AI-enabled platforms can provide reliable data, interpret it via chatbots or user-friendly tools and manage documentation right through to key handover, agents risk being sidelined unless they reinvent themselves. While South African real estate firms insist AI will not replace agents, they admit that roles will change significantly as the technology changes.
According to Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, in the next five to 10 years, the future estate agent will evolve into a sophisticated advisory and consulting role, shifting away from being purely a deal broker.
“Agents will charge commissions based on the strategic value delivered, a model which will enable advanced legacy agencies to disrupt their own models, creating new divisions and services that benefit the entire real estate ecosystem.”
Samuel Seeff, chair of the Seeff Property Group, agrees with the efficiencies brought on by AI. However, he says while AI can provide the basic value assessments and guide to what the value/asking price should be, it still requires human intervention to assess those nuances.
“The value that real humans, property agents, bring to real estate transactions is enormous, and while AI will bring efficiencies, it will not replace property agents. It’s a case of emotional intelligence versus artificial intelligence,” he says.
In addition, he says it’s unlikely that it will bring down estate agency commission rates, primarily as AI cannot replace the essential human elements of a transaction.
While South Africa lags, global agencies that have embraced AI are already automating conveyancing, mortgages, insurance and more, while checking property details and progressing tasks without human intervention. Baker said some firms are developing AI “brains” or copilots for office managers to monitor operations, enhance improvements, and handle routine work.
“Tech-enabled brokerages track everything from developers signed, listings, and leads to conversion rates. Traditional agencies lack this discipline. Foxtons in 2001 showed each team member had a single defined role, more process engineer than traditional agent. That mindset will be essential.”
Trust and transparency
South African estate agents have long faced criticism for unethical behaviour, from misleading listings to unclear fees.
As AI tools advance, Alison Tresling, head of marketing at Jawitz Properties, sees them playing a key role in building transparency and trust in the property market, detecting inconsistencies, verifying data, and keeping client information accurate.
However, she says true accountability still requires human integrity and discernment. “The willingness to have difficult conversations and to do the right thing cannot be replaced by technology. AI can assist the process, but it cannot lead it.”
For Arnold Maritz, co-principal of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty for Cape Town’s southern suburbs, consumer education is key in property transactions.
He urges buyers and sellers to ask the right questions, check agency registration and Fidelity Fund Certificates, and rely on referrals and reputation when dealing with estate agents to avoid the common pitfalls.
AI enhances market transparency by analysing large datasets to flag irregularities, such as unfair pricing, false listing claims, or virtual staging. Depending on the information available in the public domain, it could theoretically also uncover conflicts of interest by mapping relationships between agents, inspectors, and lenders to reveal undisclosed referral patterns, says Maritz.
Maritz says AI is still unproven in enforcement as it advances faster than regulations can keep up. Regulatory bodies including the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Real Estate Business Owners of South Africa (Rebosa) and the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa (IEASA) as well as Fica (the Financial Intelligence Centre Act) are integrating ethical AI use, updating codes of conduct and providing training. “The aim is to use AI responsibly for market analysis and valuations while maintaining human oversight, trust, and transparency as the profession adapts to technological change.”
Baker says in future, agencies will use technology to streamline operations, enabling fewer staff, more face-to-face specialists, higher agent productivity, and systemised processes.
Using AI across the real estate process
Baker provides practical examples of using AI across the transaction chain.
- Smarter agency marketing: AI boosts local awareness, targets likely movers, auto-generates brand content, and nurtures databases with personalised messages, and it trims customer acquisition costs.
- Predicting sellers: By analysing behaviour, mortgage data, and neighbourhood trends, AI will soon deliver daily lists of the homeowners most likely to move.
- Winning listings: AI tools benchmark local performance, generate tailored pitch decks, and support pricing decisions with predictive valuation models.
- Preparing listings: AI writes customised property descriptions, enhances photos, creates instant videos, and stages homes, virtually complete with editable décor and shoppable furniture.
- Optimised reach: Instead of uploading and waiting, AI distributes listings, tracks performance, and adjusts spend to maximise results.
- Richer search: Natural language and conversational search let buyers ask for specifics and not “four-bed with a lake within an hour of London”, for example, while image and audio analysis improves matching.
- Lead management: AI qualifies enquiries, responds across voice and messaging, books appointments, and prioritises hot leads, plugging the gap where 40% of leads go ignored.
- Integrating transactions: AI links conveyancing, mortgages, and insurance, nudging tasks along and acting as an office copilot to improve workflows.
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