Real Estate Stocks Sink on Worry About AI Risk to Office Demand

1 / 2

Real Estate Stocks Sink on Worry About AI Risk to Office Demand

Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos

Fri, February 13, 2026 at 4:38 AM GMT+9 2 min read

In this article:

CBRE

-8.80%

JLL

-8.11%

ANTH.PVT

CWK

-12.81%

NMRK

-4.78%

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) – Commercial real estate stocks nosedived Thursday as traders worried about risk to demand for office space from higher use of artificial intelligence tools, broadening a selloff that began Wednesday in small corner of the market.

Shares of CBRE Group Inc., a major commercial real estate services company, plunged as much as 15%, bringing the two-day decline to 26% in the worst such move since the financial crisis of 2008. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. fell as much as 14% Thursday, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. dropped 13% and Newmark Group Inc. sank 11%.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Mamdani’s Grocery Plan Takes Shape In Economic Policy Shift

The Best Tactics for Tackling Speeders

NY Private School Startup Seeks Edge by Giving 42% Fee Discount

NJ Transit Service Between Trenton and New York City Resumes

New York Faces Slippery Evening Commute as Storm Moves in Fast

An index tracking stocks of office real estate companies retreated as much as 6.7%. Major decliners in the index include SL Green Realty Corp., Cousins Properties Inc., Kilroy Realty Corp. and BXP Inc.

“Concerns about increased use of AI applications translating into reduced demand for office space have been around for some time, this is not new,” said Jeffrey Langbaum, an analyst covering office REITs for Bloomberg Intelligence.

“However, after yesterday’s selloff in the brokers, we are seeing the fear spill back over to the actual office space providers.”

The two-day selloff across real estate stocks is among the latest in what analysts are calling the “AI scare trade.”

“We’re in a bit of a ‘ready fire aim’ environment in financial services in general, with investors reacting sharply to even modest earnings misses given widespread fears of AI disruption,” Morningstar’s Sean Dunlop said.

Investors’ concerns about AI disrupting business models have intensified following the rollout of new tools by startup Anthropic. It has led to steep selloffs in several corners of the stock market over the past couple weeks — starting with software makers, then moving to private credit companies, insurers, wealth managers, real estate services and logistics firms.

On the other hand, analysts and investors have warned that some of the recent steep selling reflects a knee-jerk reaction from traders and could be overestimating the risks.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

UPS’s Missteps Have Made the Company’s Road Ahead Less Certain

Drug Cartels Are Shifting Their Money Laundering to Crypto. Cops Can’t Keep Up

Fibermaxxing Is a Diet Trend Even Nutritionists Can Love

The Making of MAHA’s Biohacking King

What It’s Like to Be a Banker in Russia During Wartime

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

Terms and Privacy Policy

Privacy Dashboard

More Info