In a real estate photography survey conducted nationwide, HomeJab found five interesting stats about real estate agents and their listing habits.
Stat 1) Professional Real Estate Photographers Are Key Players In The Market
According to our real estate photography survey, 74% of agents hire a professional real estate photographer on every listing. In other words, three out of four agents agree that it’s well worth the investment in real estate photography to drive more traffic to their listings and generate more qualified leads.
But this stat is the least surprising: Hiring a dedicated real estate photographer on every listing speaks to the overall service agents provide to their clients. Top agents know the importance of conveying a brand image that’s anything but ho-hum. To enhance their brands, they invest in high-quality real estate photography that makes their listings stand out from the pack.
Stat 2) Real Estate Video Content Is Still On The Rise
The real estate industry is certainly moving forward with new marketing trends. Case in point: Independent agents and brokerage platforms are embracing video content to sell properties at a much faster rate.
HomeJab’s nationwide survey found that 39% of real estate agents preferred video over 3D/360 tours, which is double the number of agents who preferred 3D/360 over video. Additionally, Wyzowl’s 2021 Video Marketing Statistics showed that 86% of all businesses used video marketing as a growth tool — an 85% increase over the past year.
Why has video marketing exploded in popularity? Consider the convenience it offers to both real estate agents and prospective homebuyers.
For starters, video is more transferable and relatable compared to other visual forms. It can play anywhere, on all kinds of devices. Most importantly, real estate listing videos offer an immersive and effortless experience of the home that leaves viewers wanting more.
Stat 3) Virtual Staging Is Outperforming Traditional Staging
Thirty-one percent of real estate agents prefer to stage an empty home virtually rather than traditionally with furniture.
Why is virtual staging trumping the real thing? Three words: quality, flexibility, and affordability.
These three aspects make virtual staging a lucrative trend, so much so that real estate agents can easily incorporate it in their marketing efforts. By contrast, the grand production scale of traditionally-staged homes pales in comparison, making virtual staging a no-brainer.
It’s amazing to see how far staging a home has come that virtual options are preferred over the real thing. We expected virtual staging to be popular, but not more than real furniture, so this is definitely a surprise!
Stat 4) Real Estate Photography At Twilight Is A Growing Trend
It’s crystal clear that agents value capturing property images at twilight as much as in the normal daytime. In our survey, 74% of real estate agents said that they were interested in or already use photography depicting homes in a sunset/twilight setting.
Perhaps this has something to do with the fuzzy feeling viewers get when the home is canvassed in warm hues of orange and lavender at sunset.
Fuzzy feelings aside, we were surprised to discover that the interest in real estate photography at twilight was this high. If only more agents knew that this can be done virtually! (But no worries, they’ll soon catch on.)
As awareness of virtual twilight spreads, we can only imagine that real estate photography depicting sunsets will become the new normal. After all, just like virtual staging, virtual twilight services are flexible, reliable, and easy on the pocket.
Stat 5) Aerial Photography Is A Must-Have On Every Listing
Eighty-three percent of real estate agents are interested in or already use aerial photography to their advantage.
This makes sense. Every home is a part of a community, and what shows that better than a view from above?
So while we aren’t surprised that aerial photography is a standout metric in our survey, we’re surprised that the number of interest in real estate drone videos isn’t much higher than reported!
This is because sticking with what’s safe or traditional in real estate marketing isn’t the best idea if agents want to stay competitive, beat the iBuyer model, and grow their real estate businesses.
HomeJab’s Real Estate Photography Services
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