11 Important Real Estate Photography Trends in 2021 and Why They Matter

Exceptional real estate photography is an essential component of any healthy real estate marketing campaign. After all, high quality photos help to sell homes faster and at higher prices. They attract more buyers and keep them engaged for longer periods of time. And top notch photography helps you to build your brand.

Think about it. Photography runs through nearly every aspect of your marketing arsenal. Consider the most popular tools used by agents. Which of the following do you rely on regularly?

• Social media
• Email marketing
• Direct mail
• Listing videos
• Print ads
• 3D tours

It is likely that you wield most if not all of these weapons in your marketing campaigns. What do they each have in common? Photography. Elevate the quality level of your photography and you automatically raise the bar for your entire marketing effort.

With that thought in mind, consider these 11 trends in real estate photography and how they might impact your customers and your business.

1. Online searches. Nearly all homebuyers today begin their home searches online, and most of them find photos to be highly useful. In fact, stunning imagery is the number one feature that grabs and holds their attention. Not only do quality photographs attract potential buyers, they keep them on the page longer, especially if there is an ample supply.
2. Social media. In today’s market, the influence of social media cannot be overlooked. Forbes suggests that social media is “the biggest factor in the new real estate market.” And why not? Many buyers will search on social media for homes that match their preferences, using hashtags to help them find all the little niches in which they are interested.
3. Mobile devices. Nearly three quarters of buyers use a mobile device – a cell phone or tablet – to search for properties online. That fact makes it important to ensure that your photographs are mobile-friendly, that they are optimized for the technology.
4. Professional photography. In a hurried world, where there are far more responsibilities than hours in a day, many real estate agents are turning to professional photography services. That way, an agent can focus on cultivating leads and building relationships rather than on trying to figure out which photographs to get right and then spending hours editing for print and digital publication.
5. Editing services. Of course, there are plenty of agents who prefer to take their own photos. Some are quite skilled. But snapping the pictures is not the end of the job. For a photo shoot to be successful – and professional – a considerable amount of time with tedious editing is still necessary. So, for those agents who have a knack with a camera, subletting that process to a professional photo editing service is a solid option.
6. Virtual staging. Putting together a photo shoot begins long before the lens cap is removed from the camera. Time spent cleaning up the clutter, setting up a living room, or preparing a kitchen for photography gives the lens something worth capturing. Even better, home staging can put a set of images over the top. But time and budget does not always allow for staging. That is where virtual staging comes in handy, where an image of a relatively empty room can be digitally rearranged to appear fully furnished.
7. Image enhancement. Sometimes a shoot does not go entirely according to plan. A stray sock is left on the floor. A mark goes undetected until it is too late. Or the sun simply refuses to come out when it is time to take the pictures. Image enhancements can allow images to be altered after the fact to accomplish anything from removing a scuff mark to creating a blue sky in the background to augmenting the view through a window.
8. Twilight photography. Another emerging trend in real estate is giving some listings a boost. Photos shot during the “golden hour” (also known as Twilight photography) shortly after sunrise or just before sunset can yield stunning images of outdoor spaces, waterfront views, landscapes, city skylines, and more.
9. Drones. Videography from a bird’s eye view can capture the imagination of home buyers as much as any marketing tool. More and more agents are finding that they can not only use drone footage to feature a property, but also to highlight area attractions, update buyers on the progress of their new construction project, check out the condition of the roof and other property details that are not accessible from the ground.
10. Walk-through videos. People love a good story. It is no wonder that three hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and five billion videos are viewed every day! Real estate videos allow an agent to tell a story while highlighting a home – or the route to the neighborhood elementary school, coffee shop, or other attraction.
11. 3D virtual tours. Agents are learning that homes sell faster and often at higher prices when their listings come with 3D tours. Although the technology has been trending upward for years, services like Matterport have become the new open house in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Absent from the list, though by no means of any less importance, are print advertising products, such as postcards or brochures. Those simply do not diminish in significance as part of your marketing mix. And quality print ads have always necessitated quality photographs.

So, as you can see and are likely aware, exceptional photography lies at the core of nearly every marketing move you make. Agents who are unable or uninterested in producing the best photo images possible will find it far more difficult to compete – and to service their clients with excellence. Moreover, every real estate marketing strategy that is touched by photography will suffer if the photography itself is not sound.

Fortunately, it is easier than ever to achieve excellent results. The potential for quality photography has risen in recent years with advances in digital technology. Even the iPhone in your pocket is a powerful photographic device when wielded properly. Likewise, a host of creative applications within real estate photography has made it possible to appeal to a wide audience.

Whether you choose to take your own pictures or contract with a professional real estate photography service, remember that the quality of your product across all of these trending topics will be a hallmark of your business and a key to your success.