Zillow, the hard-to-define technology company that appears to be molting into a full-fledged brokerage, announced a new version of its free home tour app this week.
The upgraded mobile app, 3D Home, now fully integrates interactive floor plans into its listing imagery, and uses them as the central navigation point for exploring homes online.
Those aware of what the market offers will see similarities to iGUIDE, which depicts on floor plans a hotspot with an illustrated “cone of view” to help the viewer better understand their position in a home.
A nice touch on Zillow’s app is the simple transition from still images to its immersive 3D tour. Users need only toggle between each connected view — photo carousel, 3D, floor plan — to take in what Zillow’s head of Rich Media Experiences Josh Wesiberg called in the first demo given of the new features, a “next-gen interactive experience.”
Starting in the floor plan view, users can tap any room to hop from a bedroom to the kitchen, for example, and its immense database of property data contributes to an algorithm that labels each room’s approximate square footage.
Weisberg said in the demo that the software is accurate within 4 percent of actual. (Fannie and Freddie allow a 10 percent margin of error.)
Zillow 3D Home app can be produced on its app for both major mobile platforms or by using any high-resolution photos and tours from third-party vendors and technologies. All content produced by 3D Home can be published in any MLS or personal website.
Rich media listing pages and content earn more attention from home shoppers on the internet. Zillow’s own six-month study showed that homes with 3D tours sell for 10 percent more, on average, and are 22 percent more likely to sell in under 30 days and were saved by buyers 50 percent more often.
The evolution of this product is especially significant in the context of Zillow’s 200 million unique monthly users. Basically, Zillow’s home search prominence will augment the normalization of digital tours in the same way the Zestimate did for home value as a lead generator.
Also, Zillow’s direct IDX feeds will increase the ease at which property tours are created, further advancing the immersive digitization of listings.
The ShowingTime acquisition matters, too, because now Zillow will be able to more accurately than ever connect listing page content to showing interest and evolve its related technologies at a faster rate.
As of this week’s announcement, the updated app will be available in 25 markets across the country.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
