A key component of the USD 550 billion real estate industry, the brokerage segment, valued at around USD 12-14 billion, is set for a momentous transformation, marked by technological advancement, operational structuring and emergence of new business models, finetuned to the evolving realities, marked by key trends.

Ankit Kansal, Managing Director, 360 Realtors

 Artificial Intelligence will reshape brokerage industry as it will prove to be a major game changer in 2026, transforming the way real estate brokerage houses operate. In 2025, there has been a lot of buzz centred around the roles that AI will play in reimagining Indian real estate. Yet, it will be the year 2026 that will see AI finally coming mainstream rather than being part of lexicon.

We will witness active usage of AI across the value chain, from shortening the operational cycle to driving data-backed marketing to showcasing property options to potential client(s), the role is innumerable. Property purchase often required repeated site visits, before someone would finalize the property. However, with the use of AI one would be able to learn deeply about multiple projects simultaneously and zero in on potential projects. This reduces cost and timeline not just for customers but also for the brokerage houses, thereby resulting in cost optimization for all stakeholders involved.

AI will also be instrumental in renewing interest in data and insight driven decision making. Leveraging complex and advance algorithm, it can offer accurate insights about future trends and property prices, thereby helping investors make informed decisions. It will help banks, corporate and funds make accurate assessment and valuations.

The Indian property brokerage industry, because of its inherent nature, will continue to thrive in a heterogenous manner with multiple categories existing simultaneously. There is ample space for each type of business to flourish irrespective of size and nature of business. This will comprise large size institutional sized brokerage houses, mid-sized agile networks, small brokers/ freelancers, franchises, banks & corporate institutions, sales team of developers, etc. The whole space will witness an increase in vertical and horizontal collaboration.

 Advanced technologies & innovative features will transform the CRM.

2026 will see hyper intelligent, multi-functional CRM systems. The role of CRMs would no more just be limited to operational proficiency but will be tilted more towards strategic game changing. CRMs will play its regular role in lead management, property listing, marketing automation, sales dashboards, documents etc. Meanwhile we will also see increased integration of AI-based systems that can help in bulk dialling, predict future market trends and estimate price appreciation. Similarly, we will see integration of CRM with other key functions such as HRM, corporate communication, internal communication, property portals to drive organizational level efficiency.

  In the new year, we will witness an increased focus on agent-first models, marked by gradual empowerment of property agents and brokers. While many have argued that technology will replace agents and brokers, this might be counter-intuitive. The coming years will usher in an era wherein technology and analytics will empower agents with increased flexibility, better earning slabs, timely payments and increased autonomy. Agents will continue to play the lynchpin in the overall property transaction cycle. This will interestingly attract talent from numerus other industries and not just limited to real estate. In the foreseeable time, we will see talents coming from numerous industries such as BFSI, consulting, auto sales and even technology and IT, making their place in the lucrative property transaction business in India.

Indian property markets will also see emergence of hybrid models, which will integrate personalization and know-how of the individual brokers with predictive intelligence, speed and efficiency of technologies.