Intuitively virtual tours make sense, they help people better understand a property before visiting. But we often get asked whether there is supporting data and what impact a virtual tour will actually have on the marketing & sale of a house. We now have preliminary findings from two separate studies which both showed virtual tours to have a positive and significant effect on property sales.
The studies showed that listings with 3D virtual tours sold for a higher sale price and sold faster than listings without.
These findings were released by Matterport (Whose 3D camera and technology we use to create our 3D virtual tours)
First Study (Rigorous Statistical Analysis)
Key Results from Preliminary Analysis
On average, listings with 3D tours:
- Closed at 4-9% higher sale price, depending on the market
- Closed up to 31% faster (South market)
- The results are stable over time in the two markets with larger data available
Data
- Total: 143,575 listings, of which 3,935 had a 3D tour (over 90% were Matterport 3D tours)
- Timeframe: November 2016 to November 2019 (each market differed in timeframe)
- Source: Data obtained from MLS databases via extracts
- Location: Four Markets (South, Southwest, Northwest and Midwest)
Methodology
- Multiple regression analyses to test the impact on final sales price and days-on-market
- Additional Variables: Existence of a video tour, number of photographs, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, age of home, number of dining rooms, square ft, number of fireplaces, acres, number of living rooms, the existence of a pool, commission rate, days on the market, final sales price.
Researchers
- Kelley Anderson is a Ph.D. candidate studying Marketing at the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University. Kelley has over 15 years experience in consumer insights across various companies, such as Golfsmith, Wal-Mart and Stage Stores. Her research focuses on how marketing using digitally mediated environments influences consumer behavior and the overall market.
- K.T. Manis, Ph.D. is a researcher at the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University. K.T. has 10 years experience in hospitality, marketing and event industries. His research broadly focuses on how the interplay between technology and strategy impacts a firm’s competitive advantage.
Second Study (Comparative Market Analysis)
Listings with a Matterport 3D tour:
- Sold 20% faster (less days on market)
- For 4.8% more (higher sale price)
20% faster sale
4.8% higher sale price
Data
- Total: 700 listings (350 with Matterport and 350 without)
- Timeframe: March 2018 to July 2019 (16 months)
- Source: MLS data obtained via third-party online portals
- Location: Major metropolitan market in the Southern United States
Methodology
- A list of 350 residential real estate properties, marketed with a Matterport 3D model, was compiled. For each listing, the following property features were identified: local neighborhood, zip code, property type (condo/co-op, single-family home, etc.), bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and year built. In addition, the following business data was also collected for each listing: listing price, sale price, listing date, offer date and sale date.
- A second list of 350 residential properties, marketed without a Matterport 3D model, was then compiled to be compared against the first group. Using a comparative market analysis (CMA) approach, i.e., expert opinion based on matching property criteria, neighborhood proximity and contemporaneous sales timeframe, similar properties marketed without Matterport were identified and paired with each of the 350 properties marketed with Matterport for comparison and analysis.
- Finally, two key metrics were calculated: days-on-market (sale date minus listing date) and sale-to-list price ratio (selling price divided by the asking/listing price). These were calculated for each listing and then averaged across the first group as well as the second group. These averages were then compared to reveal any differences between how long a property took to sell and as to whether it sold for more or less than the asking price, if marketed with a Matterport 3D model.
Researcher
- Sebastian Diessel is a real estate technology consultant with 20 years of experience across the Boston and San Francisco markets. Diessel was the founder and former co-owner of LoftsBoston.com, an industry-pioneering, real estate marketing platform focused on the live/work loft market in Boston.
Individually, 3D Virtual Tours have helped the real estate agents we’ve worked with sell houses.
“Thank you so much for the 3D virtual tour you did. The buyer came through the open home after seeing the property advertised on the internet, their comments were it is so good to see the 3D virtual tour & floor plan online, it helped us make the decision to view the property. They then went home and went over the virtual tour again.
Again thank you – yes they did buy the property!”
Again thank you – yes they did buy the property!”
Harcourts Browns Bay
To schedule a 3D virtual tour shoot or for a digital consultation, contact us now.
To learn more about 3D virtual tours for real estate, click here.