Like everything else, the move to social distancing is changing how the real estate market operates, and some changes will probably stick even after the pandemic. Like all interactions in the age of COVID-19, home tours are going online. The trend toward virtual tours was already underway, but the pandemic has accelerated the acceptance of virtual open houses.
Matterport, which provides a 3D platform, recently polled 1,000 property buyers and 1,000 property sellers and found they would overwhelmingly opt for a more immersive experience. Nearly 80% of all respondents would switch to a real estate agent offering immersive 3D tours of listed properties.
From a list of 12 features of real estate websites, virtual tours were the fifth highest-rated feature among buyers who use the internet, according to NAR’s Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report for 2020. Averaged across all age categories, 42% of respondents found virtual tours to be a very useful website feature.
As the ability to see a home virtually gains popularity, NAR has distinguished between the following related terms:
- Virtual Tour: Prerecorded media (slide show, video, or other media) hosted online and available to watch at any time.
- Virtual Open House: Real-time (live) scheduled event conducted virtually via live stream.
- Virtual Showing: Real-time (live) scheduled property showing conducted virtually via live stream (or similar delivery) for a customer or client.
Photo: Matterport 3D
