Why virtual tours are sticking around

Virtual property tours became a necessity during the pandemic’s lockdowns and travel restrictions.

But they’ve stuck around, even as the world reopened over the past year and physical inspections resumed.

More than half of companies hunting for commercial space, or investors looking to buy, now expect to see a virtual tour before they commit to a physical inspection, according to virtual-tour creator Inspace. Sixty percent of its clients now expect their first viewing to be a virtual one.

“The pandemic made people realize the value of technology for connecting people to property and how to seriously improve the user experience in a very competitive market,” says Will Hamilton, head of office leasing for JLL in New South Wales, Australia.

Virtual tours are just another option for tenants or real estate buyers making decisions. For landlords and sellers, they help filter a property’s visitors and attract a wider range of potential tenants or buyers.

But part of their staying power has been a big improvement in quality. The rapid adoption of virtual tours during COVID-19 forced providers to make them better, and quickly.

“The standards and sophistication of virtual tours have improved greatly over the past two to three years and they have become a key piece of proptech. I don’t see that changing,” Hamilton says.

Meanwhile, a greater reliance on virtual touring during the pandemic has “accelerated demand for more personal and transparent marketing and tenant management,” says JLL’s Transform with Technology report.

Immersive engagement

Types of virtual tours vary, as do their cost and complexity. The most common types of virtual tours are drone videos, live-streams, pre-recorded tours, 360-degree virtual tours (usually photography), augmented and virtual reality, and story-driven marketing videos.

New versions will offer more interactive experiences and give the viewer more control, Hamilton says.

“There’s a sliding scale of what you can spend and you’ll be doing something different for a new central, urban development compared to a small building in a more fringe location,” he says. “There are choices, and the beauty is the technology can be applied to any sort of project.”