Leading estate agent media provider, Giraffe360, has revealed that homes marketed with the use of virtual tours command a price premium of up to 8.5%.
Virtual viewings have long been popular with overseas buyers in particular, but they came into their own during the pandemic. During a time when physical viewings were restricted, they enabled prospective buyers and renters to take a full walkthrough tour of a property without having to leave their home.
Why virtual tours are here to stay
The pandemic may now be over, but virtual tours are here to stay and this is why.
On the sales market, virtual tour properties carry an estimated premium of 5.6% compared to homes marketed using more traditional techniques. With today’s average house price, this is a cash premium of £15,648.
On the rental market, the virtual tour premium is even more impressive, sitting an estimated 8.5% which equates to an extra £94/month in rental income.
Advantages of virtual tours
There are advantages to virtual tours beyond the handsome price premiums they can offer.
There is, of course, the convenience they provide. Prospective buyers or tenants can view properties without leaving home which means they can view many in just one afternoon, narrowing down a long list to a short list of homes they can then choose to view in person. Furthermore, virtual viewings can happen 24/7, so clients don’t have to eat into their precious evenings and weekends to view dozens of properties.
Virtual viewings are safe and accessible for everyone. They mean sellers don’t have to have as many strangers traipsing through their home, and any clients who have a disability don’t have to consider whether or not they’ll be able to view the property easily in its current form.
Virtual viewings save time and money for everyone involved. Buyers or renters don’t have to view nearly as many places in person as they normally would and thus don’t have to pay travel expenses to get there, for example. If clients are looking at properties situated across a wide area, perhaps even in different towns or cities, this is an especially pertinent benefit.
All of this creates more efficiency. Less wasted viewings for properties that aren’t suitable means less expenditure of our most precious resources – time and money.
Giraffe360 CEO, Mikus Opelts, commented:
“Virtual viewings use complex technology to create a very simple and intuitive user experience and one that brings enormous benefit to everybody involved in the buying and rental markets. They are a genuine moment of evolution for the industry, not just a passing fancy. Before too long, every home in Britain will be marketed with the use of virtual tours.
“Not only are they hugely convenient and impressive, they also bring astonishing premiums. They have an ability to make viewers fall in love with a home to such an extent that they’re willing to pay a little extra to secure it.
“As it stands, there is still time to get ahead of pack with virtual tours and start offering something that your competitors haven’t caught onto yet. The return for doing so? Roughly £16,000 for every transaction.”
