64. HomeJab | Video and 3D Tours: 48% of Real Estate Pro Photo Shoots in 2021

HomeJab study shows Wednesdays are the most popular day for taking real estate listing photos
Study also reveals the impact of COVID-19 on video/3D and aerial photography

Cherry Hill, NJ – February 16, 2022 – A new study of real estate photography data from HomeJab (www.HomeJab.com) finds that Wednesday is the most popular day of the week for real estate photographers to take photos for a new property listing.

HomeJab, which provides real estate agents on-demand professional real estate photography and other visual production services in every major US market and all 50 states, studied nearly 60,000 real estate photography assignments over the last four years.

The HomeJab study found:

1. The most popular day of the week for real estate photography was Wednesday. 20% of all listing photos are shot on Wednesday.
2. Tuesday and Thursday are tied for the second most popular day of the week for shooting real estate listing photos with 18% each.
3. The least popular day of the week for real estate photos? Sunday. Just 4% of real estate listing photos are shot on a Sunday.

“Most professional real estate photography shoots don’t happen on weekends, even though home sellers are typically more available," said Joe Jesuele, founder and CEO of HomeJab. “Our research shows that only about 1 out of 10 listing photo shoots occur on a Saturday and Sunday,” Jesuele added.

The HomeJab study also revealed that COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on the popularity of both video/3D shoots for new property listings and aerial photography footage.

In 2020, when the pandemic shuttered almost all Open Houses, the percentage of video and 3D virtual tours ordered by agents jumped significantly from 37% to 53% of photo shoots. Last year, as Open House returned, this percentage went down slightly to 48% but remained higher compared to pre-pandemic levels for 2019.

HomeJab found the opposite was true with aerial photography. A little more than 15% of real estate listing photo shoots included aerial photography in 2018 and 2019. That number dropped in 2020 to 12%. Last year aerial photography orders rebounded to about 14% for all listings.

Jesuele observed, “Agents typically have a fixed budget for photography, so an increase in one service would cause a decrease in the other service.”

“We expect real estate agents using HomeJab to continue to build-in video and 3D tours as part of their 'go-to' photo package for all listings, and that aerial photography will continue to rebound," Jesuele said. "Increasing visual content satisfies sellers and helps potential buyers, especially those who still don't want to tour physically as many houses as they once did."