Matterport Tours for Show Homes and New-Build Developers: What the Numbers Say

A show home has one job: to let people imagine living there. For the buyers who cannot get to the development on a Saturday, or who are comparing six developments from the sofa, a Matterport 3D tour does that job online. This article sets out the evidence developers ask us for, what a good show home tour includes and how it fits alongside photography and drone work.

What buyers say

Zillow's Consumer Housing Trends Report 2024 found that 72% of buyers think a 3D tour gives them a better feel for a space than photos, and 67% wish more listings had one. The National Association of Realtors' 2024 buyer profile found 60% of buyers rate virtual tours a "very useful" listing feature, third only to photos and detailed information and well ahead of video. Zillow's own listing data showed buyers saved listings with a 3D tour 32% more often than those without.

In the UK, Rightmove reported that listings with a video or virtual tour went from 2% to 34% in the year to February 2021, and Zoopla saw new-build virtual viewings rise 215% in the first lockdown. Buyers learned to shortlist remotely and have not unlearned it. A 2022 survey for Matterport, which included 1,000 UK buyers, found one in three had bought a property without an in-person viewing.

On price and speed, the evidence is Matterport's own and should be read that way. A Matterport-commissioned Texas Tech analysis of 143,575 US listings found homes with 3D tours sold for 4% to 9% more and up to 31% faster in some regions. An independent Harvard and Ivey study found a much smaller premium once photo quality was controlled for, which is why we treat the tour and the photography as one package rather than alternatives.

Why Matterport for show homes

For a single house or apartment, Matterport is usually the right format. The scan captures every room, the dollhouse view shows how the floors relate, and a floor plan with measurements can be extracted from the model, which saves a separate floor plan survey. Mattertags let you label the kitchen supplier, the flooring specification or the upgrade options. Where a development needs branded navigation, a site map and multiple plots in one interface, a bespoke tour takes over; our guide to when Matterport is not the best choice explains where the line falls.

What to include

The show home itself, scanned once it is fully dressed and before the first weekend of visitors. Add a drone 360 scene of the development for context, and still photography from the same visit for portal listings, brochures and hoardings. Most developers order our show home tour and photography package, which delivers all three from one appointment. Where several house types share a development, each show home gets its own tour linked from the development page.

Timing and delivery

A show home scan takes one to two hours. The Matterport tour is normally live within 48 hours and the photography follows within one to two working days, so a launch weekend can be supported from a shoot on the Wednesday. Tours can be linked from Rightmove and Zoopla listings, embedded on your website and shared with agents. Matterport hosting carries a yearly fee, which we quote up front; there are no travel charges anywhere in mainland UK.

Examples

See Durkan Homes' Bluebell show home, Dwell Student Living (30 properties in one programme) and the developers on our property virtual tours page, including Crest Nicholson, Tulloch Homes, Fabrica and Latis. For a price for your next launch, send us the development details or read our 2026 price guide first.