The 2026 property management industry trends & opportunities you should know

Property managers are juggling elevated costs, demands from owners, and residents who expect instant responses. Maybe you’ve just finished negotiating with a vendor, only to get a late-night maintenance request from a resident. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone.

Across the industry, property management teams are feeling the squeeze—striving to do more with less, while keeping both clients and residents happy. The pressure to boost efficiency while delivering stand-out service has never been higher.

These pressures have driven the number of property management companies using AI tools to triple, from 20% to 58% in the last year alone. But we’re still at the beginning of the transformation that AI will kick off within real estate, with a great deal of potential still untapped.

In this post, we’ll share the 5 top property management industry trends from our 2026 Industry Report. We’ll explore how property management companies are:

• Cutting costs with technology as profitability pressures increase
• Expanding the business while maintaining a high level of service
• Turning a slowing sales market into an opportunity to gain clients
• Differentiating themselves from the competition through maintenance
• Showing their value to owners by attracting and retaining great residents

Trend #1 – Technology: Growing Smarter, Leaner, and Faster

Summary: Property managers are focused on adopting new tools and better using current ones to save money and boost revenue.

Let’s face it: Costs are still rising, though not at the rate they once did. According to Buildium’s surveys, expenses have increased for 93% of property management companies over the past year. For property managers, it’s primarily the costs of vendors, materials, and business insurance that have gone up; while for rental owners, it’s property taxes and insurance.

As a result, everyone’s looking for ways to work smarter, not harder. When our survey asked how companies plan to cut costs in the coming year, property managers’ most common response by far—selected by 50% of survey respondents—was adopting new tools and better using current ones to improve efficiency. In addition, 21% of respondents said that implementing new technology solutions has been a successful part of their revenue generation strategy in the past.

AI is the big story here. Last year, just 20% of property management companies told us they were using artificial intelligence within their businesses. In the span of a single year, that number has increased to 58%, meaning that a majority of property management professionals are augmenting at least one business process with AI. Most often, property management industry professionals are using AI to help them craft property descriptions and customer communications—but advances in technology will soon make it possible for companies to look beyond large language models like ChatGPT and truly reinvent the way they work with AI.

Trend #2 – Growth: Scaling with Intention, Without Sacrificing Service

Summary: Property managers are focused on sustainable growth through efficient operations and high service standards, balancing expansion with quality and profitability.

In the coming year, three-quarters of property management companies plan to expand their portfolios. However, third-party managers may find that high property prices, elevated interest rates, rising property costs, and economic uncertainty have set some rental owners back on their heels.

This may be one of the reasons why we see a disparity between how much growth property management companies have planned, and how much growth they actually achieved: 75% plan to grow in the next year, but just 55% grew over the past year. With 18% of property management professionals reporting that encouraging clients to acquire new properties has been a leading growth strategy for their company, this reality highlights the importance of setting realistic expansion targets and diversifying your sources of portfolio and revenue growth.

In addition, a primary challenge for growing companies is bolstering the quality of their customer service as they take on more doors. This is especially important considering that referrals from current clients are property management companies’ #1 growth method. The right technology can help companies bridge the gap as they grow their portfolios faster than they’re able to expand their teams.

Trend #3 – Owners: Leaning into Market Shifts to Drive New Business

Summary: Property managers foresee a continued increase in rental market regulations and a slowdown in the sales market, potentially leading more Accidental Landlords to seek out their services.

Demand is rising for experts’ assistance in running properties in compliance with local regulations: In 2021, just 21% of rental owners said that they hired a property manager for this reason, which has risen to 33% as of 2025, according to Buildium’s surveys. As new tenant protections pass, rental owners’ perception of the risk involved in running their rental properties themselves will rise, motivating them to reach out for professionals’ help.

In addition, economic uncertainty and elevated property prices and mortgage rates are resulting in a stark disparity between the number of homes for sale and the number of buyers in the market. When homes aren’t selling for prices that allow buyers to recoup their investment, some homeowners choose to transition those properties from for-sale housing to rental housing. It’s under these conditions that Accidental Landlords arise—and because they’re the group most likely to hire professional management for their property, property managers see these conditions as an opportunity to pick up new clients. 

More than any other factor, rental owners hire based on the customer service experience that your company delivers: 74% of respondents to Buildium’s most recent owner survey told us that this is their primary consideration when choosing a property management company. In today’s business environment, this means integrating technology with the human touch to meet individual clients’ needs.

Trend #4 – Maintenance: From Pain Point to Competitive Advantage

Summary: Property managers have an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition and generate revenue through preventative maintenance services.

Maintenance is a headache for everyone—owners, residents, and managers alike. But it’s also a huge opportunity. 56% of rental owners who work with a property manager to run their rentals say they do so to have an expert’s help with maintenance. Property managers can prove their value by easing rental owners’ anxiety over upkeep of their properties—not only by making emergency repairs, but also by keeping issues from happening in the first place through preventative maintenance services.

Resident retention is another way in which proactive maintenance can help property managers show their value. 40% of renters who were uncertain about renewing their lease would stay put for another year if their property manager or landlord invested more in maintaining the property, while 31% say they’d stay if their property manager or landlord were more responsive to maintenance requests. Overall, residents said they’d be more influenced by their property manager’s approach to maintenance than by the chance to access greater amenities or services—making this a clear area where property managers can invest to improve occupancy rates.

In addition to investing in preventative maintenance, how can property managers influence the anxiety that both rental property owners and renters feel about maintenance—while keeping costs under control? Some businesses will be investigating bringing maintenance services in house, with 15% of survey respondents saying that this is a component of their plans to cut costs in the coming year. With the skilled labor shortage continuing, though it might be hard to recruit and retain great maintenance team members, bringing maintenance in house can alleviate the challenge of finding high-quality vendors for every task that comes up.

Trend #5 – Residents: Screening for Stability in an Evolving Market

Summary: Tenant quality remains property managers’ top challenge this year, with tenant screening becoming an even more critical aspect of the leasing process.

Finding great residents is tougher than it once was. The cost of owning and maintaining a rental property has increased significantly, leading many rental owners to raise rents. But with rents set at higher prices, fewer renters are able to afford them, leaving just 57% of renters able to pay all of their bills on time and in full right now. As a result, many property managers are struggling to find qualified rental applicants to fill vacancies that arise.

According to Buildium’s surveys, 61% of rental owners who currently work with a property manager do so because they want an expert’s help in managing, attracting, and retaining residents. With rental owners aware of the challenges that management companies are facing in this area, property managers have the perfect opportunity to prove their value by finding high-quality residents and retaining them over time.

When Buildium asked which tools have provided the most value to property management companies in the past year, tenant screening tools were the second-most popular result. Rental fraud is on the rise, with 75% of property management companies reporting an increase in fraud over the past year, according to a study conducted by RealPage. This means it’s critical that property managers use the latest technology to uncover credit, criminal, and eviction data and apply consistent guidelines across their pool of rental applicants.

Turning 2026 Property Management Industry Trends into Action

In closing, here are 5 ways you can implement these trends into your business in the coming year:

• Experiment with AI to streamline operations (while closely monitoring outputs), allowing your team to focus on relationship building and growth.
• Set realistic growth targets and use technology to maintain high service standards as you expand your portfolio.
• Leverage regulatory changes by positioning your services as expert solutions for compliance and supporting Accidental Landlords.
• Invest in preventative maintenance to reduce emergencies, boost resident retention, and stand out from competitors.
• Strengthen tenant screening with advanced tools to minimize rental fraud and attract reliable residents.

The 2026 State of the Property Management Industry Report

Want practical advice on implementing 2026 property management industry trends into your business? You’ll find it in Buildium and NARPM’s latest report, alongside the perspectives of 5 property management experts. Download your free copy of our new and improved Industry Report now.