• 36 percent of Americans would be more likely to try to buy a home entirely online during the current coronavirus outbreak; 43 percent would be more likely to try to sell a home entirely online
• In a departure from traditional practice, 1 out of 3 would prefer taking a virtual or video home tour instead of touring a home in person after the current coronavirus outbreak ends.
• For shoppers who want to tour a home in person, virtual tours will allow them to winnow down their options and save time attending showings or open houses.

Home buyers and sellers say they are more likely to make the purchase or sale of their biggest financial asset entirely online. 

Digital tools widely adopted during the coronavirus pandemic are giving people the ability and the confidence to buy or sell a home in a tight real estate market where homes are selling at their fastest pace in two years. Consumer demand will likely keep those tools in place and lead to more online real estate transactions in the future according to a new  Zillow survey¹.

More than a third of Americans (36%) say they are more likely to try to buy a home entirely online during the coronavirus pandemic, and 30 percent say after the current outbreak ends, they would do the same.  

Even more Americans appear to be getting comfortable with the idea of selling a home virtually.  During the pandemic, 43 percent say they are more likely to try to sell a home entirely online. When the current outbreak ends, 33 percent anticipate they would still be more likely to try and sell a home entirely online.  

A majority of people still want to tour a home in person before committing their down payment. However, when asked to choose between taking an in-person or a virtual tour after the current outbreak has ended, one out of three say they would choose the virtual or video tour — a meaningful departure from traditional shopping behavior. 

The home shopping tradition of loading the family into the minivan and touring open houses all weekend may be over. Now shoppers are realizing they can use virtual tours to either skip in-person shopping, or at least to winnow down their options and visit fewer homes in person, making it easier and less time-consuming to find their next home. That speed advantage can give buyers a leg up in today’s fast-moving market.

¹Data was collected by ZillowGroup Population Science from a survey of 2,600 U.S. adults recruited and interviewed between May 11th, 2020 and May 15th, 2020. Respondents were recruited from multiple general population internet respondent panels of U.S. adults from the contiguous United States. To promote the representativeness of the estimates, the sample data was weighted to align with key U.S. Census demographic benchmarks observed in the target population.