Real Estate Advertising in 2024 Expected to Increase: 7 Ideas to Help Fellow Sellers Sell

The Real Estate Landscape

Real estate is volatile and very market specific. However, there are positive signs highlighting opportunity.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicts there will be 4.71 million existing-home sales in 2024. This is a 13.5% increase over 2023.

Interest rates are hovering around 7%, but analysts believe they will be in the low-6% range by the end of the year. Lower rates are a good sign for home buyers.

Some markets have substantial shortages and pent-up demand; others are cooling. You can find information about your area on the NAR website. The top 10 with the most demand, as defined by NAR, include:

• Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
• Dayton-Kettering, Ohio
• Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
• Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.
• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
• Portland-South Portland, Maine
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.

With these data points as the foundation for market intelligence, you also need to know how home buying has changed.

Trends in Real Estate: Consumer Behavior Shifts

To create successful real estate advertising campaigns, you’ll need to tap into what consumers are thinking and how they’ve evolved in buying and selling houses.

First, they’ve become more digitally savvy. The pandemic forced virtual home shopping, and consumers still want to research and explore properties online with 3D virtual tours and drone coverage. An NAR home buyers report found that 96% of people used an internet home search, and younger generations were more likely to do these on mobile over desktop. Additionally, 51% of all buyers found the home they purchased online.

Second, they have concerns about mortgage rates and how that impacts their purchasing power. However, a newly released study found that they are more optimistic about rates trending down. As rates hold or decrease, financial institutions will likely see activity picking up on refinancing and HELOC (home equity line of credit) inquiries.

Third, there are still some population migrations occurring. They were most demonstrable during the pandemic, with workers going remote or changing careers. In looking at the top 10 hottest markets above, there’s a variety of large and smaller metropolitan areas. Again, you’ll want to study the population patterns for your area to understand how it’s faring.

These trends will impact the real estate advertising ideas you pitch. So, let’s get to the list!

7 Real Estate Advertising Ideas

Here’s a list of fresh campaign inspirations to share with real estate advertisers.

1. Make virtual tours the focus: Whether using social media, geofencing videos or general display ads, tap into the trend of buyers using the internet for guided tours. These high-quality videos can target the specific audiences most likely to purchase homes. Make sure “virtual tour” is in the ad copy so viewers will want to click.
2. Highlight niche experience for agent profiles: Any agent who wants to use advertising for brand awareness will want to play up specific experiences. Some agents focus more on buyers than sellers or vice versa, so that could be one option. Another would be to spotlight neighborhoods where they’ve sold many houses, making them an expert.
3. Recommend agent and mortgage broker partnerships: Agents may have brokers they work with exclusively. Many new home buyers will find this pairing convenient because it’s less work for them. These ads could run on OTT/CTV, social media and display.
4. Address the challenges in home buying: Honest and genuine ad campaigns will resonate with an audience frustrated by the lack of inventory or financing options. Intimate ads could be the connection that earns agents the click. The process can be confusing and stressful, so your advertiser should tell a story about how they’ll be there to navigate it.
5. Use data points to help audiences understand the market: As noted, real estate can be complicated, and many are eager to have it demystified for them. Ads can lead with data and education, either with headlines or videos. These ads will demonstrate transparency and trustworthiness.
6. Suggest rate-driven ad buys to capture refinancing and HELOC interest: Try something with some animation to show rates decreasing. You can target homeowners specifically with programmatic.
7. Leverage testimonials and reviews: Another must-have real estate advertising campaign is to include feedback from past clients. People are looking for credible agents, and nothing illustrates this better than hearing from former buyers or sellers. These can work in any channel — display, social, OTT/CTV and radio.