Virtual tours, which are also known as 3D tours, is a popular marketing tool by property management companies to allow potential buyers to digitally tour a property for sale.

The term virtual tours can either refer to a 360° degree showcase of the real estate property created with the help of photography technology or a virtual reality (VR) tour, created from plans created in 3D, which customers can navigate using a VR helmet and remote. The former is the most common type of virtual tour offered by property managers.

According to Porush Jhunjhunwala, CEO, Banke International Properties, though the demand for virtual property tours has definitely grown over the years, it spiked up during the pandemic.

"Virtual tours were particularly common during the pandemic as they were a safer option.There was a less riskier option as you didn't have to come in contact with people or unsanitized surfaces," said Porush.

Richard agrees. “Covid was truly the turning point that influenced a definitive spike in virtual tours. During the lockdown, it was clear people still wanted to buy, sell or rent a home and virtual tours became the most convenient and effective way forward. Now as people have understood the functionality of virtual tours and witnessed the benefits, the demand continues to grow,” says Richard. 

However Luke Remington - Managing Director - haus & haus, said that the demand for virtual tours has gone down since the lifting of Covid restrictions.

“Virtual tours, in general, would be used more in other parts of the world that didn't handle the pandemic as well as the UAE did,” he says. 

He says their importance shot up when people couldn't leave their homes. "It was the only choice they had. The demand for virtual properties would have been at a peak between a four to six week period when the actual lockdown was going on. There was a period in which, without doubt, owners or tenants were a bit more concerned about having people into their villa or apartment or commercial warehouse or whatever was being advertised,” said Luke.

Currently, virtual tours are primarily used by clients to shortlist properties. 

“Virtual tours allow potential buyers and tenants to get a real sense of a property before committing their time for a physical viewing," says Porush. “Likewise, from the sellers' or agents' perspective, the enter process of leasing or selling the property becomes much easier with virtual tours because the clients has already shortlisted the properties they want to check out.

 Their demand is not restricted to only international clients. 

"From the UAE as well, we have clients who shortlist properties doing virtual tours instead of spending the entire day viewing multiple properties. When they want to take a call, there would be only one or two properties they would like to visit,” says Porush. “Also, if the client is familiar with a certain unit they have visited in the past, they are fine to do a virtual to take a call on purchasing it or renting it." 

Richard says that 360 degree tours or virtual walkthroughs has always been popular with clients both in the UAE and abroad. 

“However, our live virtual tours both via our portal partners and through our own website where a client can take a virtual walkthrough of property live with a broker in the property answering any questions was favored more with our clients overseas,” he said.

Besides saving time and money, virtual tours offer a number of advantages. 

“From a broker's point of view, it is a great tool to engage new applicants with and can be extremely useful on properties that are difficult to view, such as those with tenants living in the property. It also allows our clients to understand what they are looking for and know what they want better, before any physical viewings,” says Richard.

They are also used for properties which are not authorised for viewings yet or for off-plan properties.

“Virtual tours are the only way forward when it comes to off-plan properties, because they haven't been built yet. They are also the preferred choice if for health and safety reasons, a tenant can't visit the property.  In such cases, the developer will put a great CGI together and do a virtual tour. They'll make it look beautiful, because it's a sales strategy in order to sell a property or development before it's completed.” says Porush.

Luke said he fails to understand the hype around virtual tours. "They're not new. They've obviously gotten better without doubt. And they're clearer, and quicker, but they've been around for years and years." 

Though uncommon, there have been transactions that have taken place based solely on virtual tours. However, our experts agree that they cannot replace the real thing.

“While virtual tours have been around for a long time and their quality has continually improved, many still prefer to view a property in person,” says Richard. 

“When buying a new property, people still want to touch it, see it, and feel it. When someone spends a large amount of money on a property, they want to look at the lobby, they want to look at the gym, they want to look at the facilities, want to actually smell it, you want to see this, or they want to know where the sun is at a particular time of the day. So a virtual tour, though it does have a certain capability, cannot be a complete replacement for an actual visit,” says Luke.

“There would be maybe one in 10 people or maybe one in 20 people who will actually buy a property without seeing it. But people will make a trip, whether it's a 24-hour trip or a 48-hour trip, when you're investing that kind of money.”

“It's probably like salt and pepper with your meal. Can you eat without it? Yes, of course you can. But it's just giving you an extra bit of flavor,”  adds Luke.