Over Half of Real Estate Agents Use Drones to Sell Houses

More than half of Real Estate agents are using drones to sell houses

New research issued today from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has found that more than half (51%) of real estate agents surveyed across New Zealand state they have invested in using drone footage to help market their properties.

A further 30% have considered using drones, but are yet to take up the advantage of providing the bird’s eye view when marketing homes for sale.

Bindi Norwell, CEO, REINZ says: “Gone are the days of having to clamber up a ladder to take a picture of the house that you are marketing or looking at Google Earth images. Drones can provide potential purchasers with a 360-degree view of the house, the street and the wider neighbourhood and its amenities if need be – all in high definition viewing.

“As the cost of using drones continues to decrease, and there is a higher demand for seeing properties marketed in this light, we expect that we will see an even higher uptake in the future,” continues Norwell.

“We are hearing that more real estate agents are offering vendors the opportunity to include drone footage as an additional option as part of the overall marketing package of their properties, by using professional organisations who understand the regulations and requirements surrounding drone usage,” points out Norwell.

The REINZ research also highlighted that agents are making significant use of social media with 50% having used unpaid social media to market a property and 20% considering it. Additionally, 39% have used paid social media advertising with a further 37% considering.

“New Zealand has more than 2.2 million active daily users on Facebook, 1 million Instagram users and 529,000 Twitter users, so the use of social media as part of the overall marketing of a property makes absolute sense and it’s an excellent place to reach potential purchasers who are extremely active in this space,” says Norwell.

Still to make a significant impact in New Zealand is the use of 3D walk throughs with only 19% of agents surveyed having used such technology. However, emphasising the potential opportunity of virtual walk throughs more than half of agents (52%) had considered this.

The use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is still very much in its infancy in New Zealand with only 4% and 3% of agents respectively having used these technological advances.

“It’s very early days when it comes to using 3D walk throughs or VR and AR technology in New Zealand, but there is a great opportunity for agents to embrace this sort of technology to engage time poor or international purchasers who can’t always make it to an open home,” concludes Norwell.

ENDS

© Scoop Media