Zillow has launched SkyTour, a new feature designed to revolutionize the way people shop for homes. This innovative tool provides prospective buyers with an immersive, drone-like 3D view of a property's exterior, allowing them to virtually "fly around" the home and explore its surroundings.

SkyTour is available on select "Showcase" listings for sellers using Zillow's premium media package. It employs a rendering technique called Gaussian splatting, which transforms drone footage into a smooth, interactive experience on Zillow's mobile app and website. Gaussian splatting is an emerging technology also used in gaming and virtual production. Zillow is among the first in the real estate industry to implement and scale Gaussian splatting technology.

With SkyTour, home shoppers can gain a sense of the property's layout, outdoor elements, and the surrounding neighborhood. This includes viewing nearby parks, street layouts, and neighborhood amenities. The feature aims to provide a deeper understanding of the property before committing to an in-person tour, especially beneficial for remote shoppers.

Zillow's SVP of Agent Software and Advertising, Cynthia Taylor, notes that SkyTour offers listing agents and their clients an additional way to make a listing stand out. It provides homebuyers with another layer of insight to envision themselves in a home. Instead of passively watching a video, buyers control their view, creating a more engaging experience.

SkyTour is part of a broader product rollout that includes other new features such as Offer Insights, BuyAbility, Rental cost breakdowns, and Tour itineraries. * Offer Insights: Simulates how different bid amounts might perform using Zestimate data and local market trends. It helps buyers and agents understand how strong their offer might be by combining Zestimate, recent sales, and local market data. * BuyAbility: Gives buyers a real-time estimate of what they can afford and their likelihood of loan approval. * Rental cost breakdowns: Offers transparent move-in and monthly cost details on listings. This tackles transparency issues in the rental market, where most renters want upfront cost clarity. * Tour itineraries: Lets buyers and agents coordinate and track scheduled home visits in one place.

Zillow acquired real estate marketing company VRX Media in 2022, which offered aerial drone photography, 3D tours, and other real estate-focused content. Zillow has not disclosed whether it relies on an in-house reconstruction pipeline for SkyTour, but given the company's scale and performance demands, a proprietary workflow seems likely.

SkyTour is currently limited to exteriors on Showcase Listings. There is no word yet on when the feature will reach the broader catalog or what it will mean for professionals who currently capture homes.

Zillow's new features are now available nationwide on its website and mobile apps. These tools address common pain points in the real estate market, such as affordability, tour scheduling, and the need for additional context about a home's features and the wider market.