Grant Thornton explores multifamily firms increasing their AI investments, and the impact of those investments moving towards front-office use cases.
The multifamily sector is in the process of building its next chapter, and AI remains at the heart. After several years of record construction, increasing operation costs and a challenging capital environment, majority of owners and property managers have been focused on navigating disruption.
“Multifamily firms are juggling investors who want greater transparency and better returns, residents who expect more personalised service and property teams who are being asked to manage increasingly complex portfolios with the same resources.”
Greg Ross, Head of Construction & Real Estate Industry, Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, Partner, Audit Services, Grant Thornton LLP
AI is where many firms are turning to meet those expectations and mitigating disruptions. Grant Thornton’s 2026 AI Impact Survey illustrates that half of construction and real estate leaders surveyed mentioned they’re already piloting AI in select use cases, and 36% are scaling it across multiple functions.
“The companies we work with have spent the last few years just trying to keep up. Now that market conditions are stabilising, multifamily leaders are focusing on upleveling the ways they meet stakeholders’ evolving expectations.
“They’re juggling investors who want greater transparency and better returns, residents who expect more personalised service and property teams who are being asked to manage increasingly complex portfolios with the same resources.”
Greg Ross, Head of the Construction and Real Estate industry, Grant Thornton LLP
On the other hand, scaling AI is more challenging than it may seem as most construction and real estate firms buy their technology as opposed to building it.
Vendors are moving rapidly and embedding AI tools into existing platforms without preparing property managers with the tools on how to govern them correctly across their organisation. As a result, property teams are adopting tools prematurely before the underlying processes, data and governance structures are ready to support them.
This runs the risk of creating a significant gap between capability and governance. Only 13% of construction and real estate leaders who were surveyed are confident they could pass an AI governance audit in the next 90 days. In a sector which heavily relies on third-party technologies, governing those technologies is critical, and across multiple owners and properties, could pose challenges.
The firms who are seeing returns on AI adoption aren’t the ones streamlining AI the fastest. The firms who invest in AI with strategic intentions build the right governance foundations, and establishing clear ownership and measurement definitions from the outset are excelling.
For most multifamily firms, AI started in the back office, automating accounting, procurement and accounts payable activities, and 63% of construction and real estate leaders report efficiency gains as a primary benefit of using AI.
But only 28% named revenue growth and 36% mentioned cost reduction. To drive better returns with measurable business outcomes, multifamily firms are beginning to shift their AI investments toward more front-office use cases.
“Firms have been talking about back-office automation for years. AI just makes it more accurate and efficient.
“Many front-office use cases are genuinely new, with advanced capabilities like agentic automation for leasing, guided AI tours, instant response to leads and generating renewal packages automatically.”
Cody Root, Tech Strategy Manager, Grant Thornton LLP
An example from Grant Thornton where AI improves leasing and resident engagement was for a national multifamily firm who was facing increasing demand across its portfolio. The firm required a more scalable way to manage leasing inquiries, resident communications, renewal activity and maintenance-related follow-up.
Grant Thornton worked with the firm to implement an AI-enabled leasing and resident engagement solution to improve response times, support faster lead conversion, streamline renewal communications and provide more timely resident support.
The AI implementation led to higher lead-to-lease conversions and a more consistent renewal experience, allowing site teams to shift from administrative tasks to higher-value resident retention activities.
To pursue these front-office opportunities, a lot of multifamily firms are turning to third-party technology vendors, and those vendors are quickly embedding AI into platforms and pushing for expedited implementation.
