2025 In Review: What The Year Taught Us About Careers In Real Estate
From shifting asset performance to evolving expectations of leadership, 2025 made one message very clear for real estate professionals: adaptability is everything.
It was a year shaped by economic recalibration, a more cautious hiring market for certain sectors, technological acceleration, and a noticeable change in how employers assess talent. For many surveyors, valuers and advisers, it wasn’t just the market that changed, it was the rules for progression.
Over the course of this year, SONDR has analysed hundreds of hiring briefs, supported candidates across Valuation, Development, Investment, Asset Management & Capital Markets and published a series of in-depth career insights. Together, they form a clear picture of how careers evolved in 2025, and where momentum is heading in 2026.
1. Cross-Sector Fluency Became A Serious Advantage
One of the strongest patterns we saw across 2025 was the shift away from narrow specialisms. In a market where firms were consolidating teams, protecting pipelines and diversifying portfolios, surveyors with experience across multiple sectors moved faster than those tied to a single asset class.
Candidates with exposure to:
→ Build to Rent
→ PBSA
→ Senior Living
→ Operational real estate
→ Mixed-use hybrid models
…frequently outperformed peers with deeper, but narrower, expertise.
This theme echoed our article, “The RICS Surveyor’s Dilemma”, where we explored the shift from technical experience to dynamic, commercially relevant expertise. By Q4, that shift wasn’t a trend, it was a fundamental hiring filter.
2. Hybrid Remained The Norm, But Office Presence Increased
One of the most noticeable shifts in 2025 was the quiet but steady return to office-based working. While hybrid remained the standard expectation, most firms increased their in-office presence compared with last year; typically settling around three days a week, sometimes more in client-facing or leadership teams.
What changed wasn’t the structure itself, but the candidate mindset around it.
Surveyors became more accepting of office-based routines, provided the working environment felt purposeful and the culture supportive. In our conversations, many mid-level professionals indicated they weren’t looking for more home working. They were looking for environments where they could grow, be supported and be visible to the people who would influence their careers.
As a result, the firms securing the strongest talent weren’t the ones offering maximum flexibility. They were the ones offering clarity, stability and genuine leadership engagement; regardless of office rhythm.
3. ESG Moved From Rapid Expansion To Strategic Consolidation
ESG remained central to asset performance in 2025, especially across offices, industrial assets and the living sector. Energy performance, transition risk and regulatory scrutiny continued to shape valuation instructions and investment decisions.
But something unexpected also happened. Companies began quietly downsizing dedicated ESG teams.
Globally, major organisations in aviation, financial services, asset management and ratings saw sustainability units reduced or absorbed into broader business functions. This wasn’t an anti-ESG move, it was a shift in where ESG lived organisationally.
For real estate specifically, firms increasingly embedded ESG responsibilities into core roles such as valuation, development and asset management. Instead of hiring standalone specialists, they leaned on surveyors who could connect sustainability metrics to commercial impact.
This reinforces that being chartered isn’t just about technical authority; it’s about the ability to advise with confidence on the broader forces shaping value. ESG has now become one of those forces.
And the professionals who could speak fluently about EPCs, operational energy, embodied carbon or asset repositioning, in plain commercial terms, positioned themselves ahead of the curve.
4. Leadership Readiness Overtook Leadership Tenure
Across 2025, firms became increasingly transparent about what they expect from future Directors and Partners. The shift we predicted was visible in nearly every brief we discussed:
Employers weren’t asking “Who’s been here longest?”
They were asking “Who shows signs of influence, commercial judgement and client ownership?”
The most common differentiators were:
the ability to lead conversations, not just deliver reports
confidence in shaping client strategy
commercial awareness (fee generation, repeat business, instruction growth)
mentoring and supporting junior colleagues
visibility across the business
Technical ability remained the foundation. But leadership credibility (the soft, behavioural signals) became the differentiator.
5. The Candidate Mindset Matured
One of the most striking changes this year came from candidates themselves. The conversations we had at SONDR were noticeably more strategic and introspective than in previous years.
Early-career surveyors wanted clarity on long-term progression. Mid-level professionals questioned whether their current environment supported growth. Senior candidates evaluated leadership culture more critically before moving.
Many sought guidance on how to reposition themselves. The phrase we heard most often in 2025 was: “I’m not looking to move just for a title.” Professional mobility became more intentional.
6. AI Changed The Hiring Experience, Quietly, But Dramatically
Behind the scenes, AI had a larger impact on job hunting in 2025 than most candidates realised.
Across multiple industries, companies began using automated systems to sift CVs long before they reached a human. Globally, the majority of large organisations now rely on ATS or AI-driven screening tools, and nearly half of hiring managers use AI to shortlist or reject candidates.
For surveyors, this meant many strong applications sent without the help of a career manager were never read by a person at all. This has been the most common frustration among surveyors, and it will continue shaping the candidate experience in 2026.
AI didn’t replace human judgement. It filtered who human judgement even saw.
SONDR’s observations from the year
To recap, across SONDR’s 2025 data, five career themes stood out:
Commercial awareness was the number one differentiator at all levels
Broad capability outperformed narrow specialisms
Leadership potential mattered more than leadership experience
ESG literacy became a baseline expectation for advisers
Visibility, internally and externally, accelerated progression
These themes shaped every article we’ve published in 2025 because they shaped every brief, candidate conversation and placement outcome we managed.
What To Focus On In 2026
Based on current movement in the market, here’s where real estate professionals should focus their development next year:
1. Commercial fluency
Understand value creation, not just valuation.
2. Integrated ESG competence
Be the professional who can translate sustainability into commercial advice.
3. Cross-sector relevance
Build experience that makes you resilient across markets.
4. Leadership behaviours
Demonstrate influence before you chase a title.
5. Intentional career planning
Be proactive, not reactive. The best opportunities in 2026 will move quickly. And, as we know, many are never even made public.
The Takeaway
2025 reshaped how careers in real estate progress. It was a year that rewarded adaptability, commercial thinking, and thoughtful visibility more than time served or technical depth alone.
For those willing to evolve, 2026 offers significant opportunity, but preparation begins now.
Thinking about your next move in 2026? Let’s start the conversation early. SONDR is already mapping the year’s biggest opportunities.