The Future Of Generative AI In Real Estate Marketing In The UK Executive Summary The UK property market has undergone a significant digital transformation in how homes are rented and sold, placing greater emphasis on how properties are prepared and presented for marketing. Traditional methods of home presentation, such as physical staging, are increasingly being complemented or replaced by AI tool like AI virtual staging. This white paper examines how technology, evolving consumer behaviour, and post-pandemic trends are reshaping the landscape of real estate marketing, and explores what these changes mean for estate agents, sellers, and buyers in a market where digital presentation is now central to success. Key Takeaways Shifting consumer expectations for immersive online experiences. Rising adoption of AI digital visualisation tools in property listings. Cost and speed advantages of AI virtual over physical staging. Opportunities and challenges for UK estate agents adapting to AI-powered marketing. The Importance Of Online Listings For most consumers, the first point of engagement with the property market, whether renting or buying, is now conducted through online portals. The Rightmove 2024 annual report reported 2.3 billion visits between 2023 to 2024. According to Similarweb, a digital intelligence platform that analyses website and app traffic, Rightmove ranks fourth globally among real estate websites, behind only the US-based portals Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin. Other UK platforms follow further down the global list, with Zoopla ranked 18th and OnTheMarket 26th. As a result of shifting progressively towards online, in-person viewings have decreased over the years as data from Aviva (2021) indicates that between 1997 and 2021, the proportion of in-person property viewings declined from 87% to 42%, highlighting the growing importance of digital channels in the property-buying process. This could also be attributed to the increase of online property content as Atkinson McLeod, who was a London real estate group said “We’ve reduced in-person tours by 50% while improving the quality and productivity of physical showings because clients can confirm in advance if a home is a good fit”, referring to their use of virtual tours. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this shift. A study found that internet traffic increased by 15–20% within the first week of lockdowns, reflecting a sharp rise in online engagement. Even after restrictions were lifted, this behaviour persisted. Rightmove users spent a total of 16.4 billion minutes browsing properties in 2024 is proof of this. The number of real estate agencies in the United Kingdom has shown consistent growth over the past decade. Records indicate 25,155 agencies in 2024, up from 20,320 in 2017 and 16,050 in 2010, a 56.7% increase from 2010 to 2024. With the continued expansion of online activity and increased adoption of digital channels for property searches, competition among agents and sellers has intensified. As a result, establishing a distinct and engaging online presence and the use of marketing imagery has become increasingly critical. Real Estate Imagery Marketing Tools Within the broad spectrum of real estate marketing tools, including professional photography, video tours, virtual tours, traditional home staging, and AI virtual staging, each plays a distinct role across different property market tiers, from budget to mid-range to luxury listings. Different marketing tools vary widely in cost, scalability, and impact. The table below illustrates how these options compare, from simple photo edits to full physical staging, highlighting where AI virtual staging fits within the broader landscape. As the demand for faster, more cost-efficient marketing methods has grown, the role of technology in property presentation has become increasingly significant. Among the tools reshaping this process, AI-powered solutions now stand at the forefront of visual marketing innovation. One of the most transformative applications is AI virtual staging, which has reduced marketing costs by over 95% and shortened production times from weeks or days to near-instant availability compared with traditional home staging. This approach delivers much of the visual impact of traditional home staging while remaining accessible to a wider range of properties across all market tiers. This shift is effectively raising the baseline quality of property marketing. Virtual staging is not a new concept, it has been in use since the early 2000s. However, following the COVID-19 lockdowns and the rapid advancement of AI technologies, AI-driven virtual staging has experienced a significant surge in adoption. Unlike traditional digital staging, which required manual editing by specialists and turnaround times of one to two days, AI virtual staging can generate realistic results in a matter of seconds, making the process far more scalable and accessible. The practice is now well-established in the United States, with a 2025 report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealing that 49% of buyers’ agents considered virtual staging as important or more important to their clients when marketing a property. In contrast, adoption in the United Kingdom remains at a relatively early stage, though it continues to grow steadily as awareness, trust, and technology adoption advance. First Impressions Matter The Most It is interesting to draw a parallel with another industry that thrives on visual competition for attention: the YouTube creator economy. On YouTube, where video content is abundant and viewer attention is finite, video creators compete through thumbnail optimisation, experimenting with designs, colours, and imagery to maximise click-through rates. Regardless of a video’s production quality, engagement ultimately depends on whether viewers are compelled to click on its thumbnail. As highlighted by Creator Support, a YouTube channel run by established creators, one interviewee noted that their team designs the thumbnail before even turning on the camera, a clear indication of how central visual appeal has become to driving engagement. A similar dynamic exists within the property marketplace, where listings compete for limited user attention. When price, location, and amenities are comparable, the listing photo becomes the decisive factor in generating clicks and enquiries. As Rightmove noted in its 2018 Guide to Property Marketing, “a property’s photos are the first thing you’ll be judged on.” For this reason, leading with the strongest photo, whether interior or exterior, is critical, particularly as over 60% of traffic comes from mobile devices, where only the lead photo is visible at first glance. Rotating the primary photo every two weeks can also help sustain engagement by re-catching the attention of active home seekers. However, while parallels can be drawn between the YouTube creator economy and the property marketplace, certain practices from the former should not be emulated. In real estate, accuracy and integrity take precedence over attention-grabbing tactics. Techniques such as clickbait imagery, misleading visuals, or modifications that alter the property’s permanent features, for example, changing walls, floors, ceilings, or structural elements, can misrepresent the property and undermine buyer trust. Conversely, the use of high-quality, emotionally engaging photography that highlights a property’s best attributes should be encouraged, as it captures attention and imagination while maintaining authenticity and transparency. AI-enhanced imagery can play a vital role in this optimisation and efficiency process. For instance, sunny exterior scenes may appear trivial, but it can be a significant logistical challenge. The UK averages fewer than 1,350 hours of sunshine per year, less than 30% of the maximum possible, equating to on average only 3.6 hours of sunlight per day. Compared with sunnier regions in Europe or the United States, this limited window greatly restricts opportunities to capture high-quality exterior photographs. In this context, AI tools that adjust lighting and weather conditions provide a practical and scalable solution to help listings perform competitively online. The adoption of technology in property marketing does not come without its challenges, the most significant being the potential misrepresentation of properties through AI-generated imagery. In the earlier stages of AI image generation, limitations in model performance often led to issues such as the unintended removal, addition, or alteration of fixtures, layouts, or structural elements within virtually staged images. These errors were primarily the result of AI hallucinations, instances where the model generates inaccurate or fabricated content due to insufficient contextual understanding. However, the advancement of AI technology, these concerns have been substantially mitigated. Modern AI staging tools now produce higher-fidelity, photorealistic results that are both cost-effective and significantly faster to generate. The use of multi-modal input adherence, combining text prompts with image references, has further reduced the frequency of hallucinations, making them a minority occurrence. When combined with transparent labelling and ethical disclosure practices, AI virtual staging has evolved into an efficient, affordable, and indispensable tool for both real estate agents and private sellers. To assess the quality and reliability of AI virtual staging, it is essential to understand its evolution over the past few years. The first widely adopted image generation model, Stable Diffusion, was officially released in mid-2022, marking a pivotal moment for AI-generated imagery. Early outputs were novel but lacked the consistency and realism required for commercial use. However, the subsequent releases of Stable Diffusion thereafter introduced improvements and by early 2023, support for model training and fine-tuning became available, allowing users to retrain specific versions of Stable Diffusion using their own datasets. This development proved transformative, it enabled individuals and organisations to customise and improve model performance based on domain-specific data. As a result, the visual fidelity of generated images improved dramatically, with outputs in some cases achieving commercial-grade quality. In the time since, various series of new models, both open and closed-source by different companies, have emerged, each contributing to the extraordinarily quick improvements of generative image technology. Open-source models in particular have driven widespread adoption due to their accessibility and community-driven innovation. Today, the latest AI image generation models produce outputs of remarkable quality, and given the pace of progress within such a short timeframe, it is reasonable to expect continued and accelerated improvement in the near future. Not all AI image generation models are created equal. Different models exhibit distinct strengths and specialisations: some excel at producing highly realistic imagery, others are optimised for illustrative or artistic rendering, while some focus on utility functions such as offering greater control over composition and structure. Each model also carries its own limitations. When it comes to AI virtual staging, evaluating quality requires consideration of several key factors, these criteria help distinguish professional-grade virtual staging from misleading imagery as demonstrated below. What Does This Mean For Property Marketing? With the introduction of AI-powered tools, property marketing has become more accessible than ever. For properties in the budget segment (below £250,000) which traditionally lack dedicated marketing budgets, these tools provide an affordable entry point into high-quality visual presentation that was once limited to higher-end listings. In the mid-market segment (£250,000–£750,000), AI-powered tools offer a cost-saving alternative to traditional marketing methods, enabling agents to achieve comparable visual impact while potentially reducing expenses by up to 99%. These tools can streamline processes such as clutter removal, virtual furnishing, and sky replacements, helping agents market properties more efficiently. Meanwhile, the premium and luxury segments (above £750,000) are likely to continue investing in traditional home staging and other high-end marketing techniques, combining them with AI-driven enhancements to deliver a comprehensive and bespoke experience. Impact For Stakeholders Real Estate Agents AI virtual staging has helped estate agents sell properties faster and generate more leads by improving the visual appeal of listings and marketing materials. A faster listing turnaround means that properties can be marketed sooner, while a longer active presence online increases their visibility and exposure to potential buyers. Together, these factors contribute to higher lead generation and greater buyer interest compared with unstaged or delayed listings. Sellers AI virtual staging serves as a cost-effective differentiator, helping their listings stand out within competitive price brackets. It also allows for greater customisation of furnishing styles tailored to potential buyers’ preferences, fostering a stronger emotional connection with the property. In addition to enabling faster listings, AI virtual staging carries less financial risk compared with traditional home staging. Physical staging involves furniture rental for a limited duration, after which sellers must either extend the rental at additional cost or remove the furnishings entirely, essentially returning to an unstaged state. While these rental periods vary by provider, they typically last several weeks. A 2025 Quick Move Now report shows that the UK property fallthrough rate, the proportion of sales that collapse after an offer is accepted, stood at 41% in Q2 2025, illustrating the potential risk of investing heavily in time-limited staging. For premium and luxury properties, physical staging may still be justified, as higher property values provide greater budget flexibility and tolerance for marketing risk. Buyers A 2021 report by the UK Home Staging Association (HSA) found that 94% of respondents believed staging increases the number of viewings, 100% agreed that professional photos attract more viewings than poor-quality imagery, and 100% reported that staged properties sold faster than unstaged ones. Similarly, in the United States, a 2025 survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that 83% of buyers’ agents said that staging a home made it easier for buyers to visualise the property as their future home. Together, these findings underscore how staging, whether physical or AI-aided, plays a crucial role in shaping buyer perception and accelerating the sales process across markets. The Role Of AI Tools Throughout The Property Sales Journey For Agents & Sellers AI virtual staging can add value at multiple stages of the property sales process, enhancing both marketing effectiveness and buyer experience. Its flexibility allows agents and sellers to tailor visuals to different objectives, from first impressions to a tool for negotiation. 1 Awareness & First Impression Use staged images in listings to stand out in crowded search results and increase click-through rates. 2 Listing Engagement Showcase multiple furnishing styles for the same space (e.g. home office vs nursery) to appeal to different buyer demographics, or stage vacant rooms so buyers do not overlook them as “cold” or “uninviting.” 3 Shortlist & Enquiry Send buyers additional staged visuals (e.g. in a PDF brochure or email follow-up) to reinforce interest and encourage enquiries. 4 Viewing Provide tablets or digital displays with staged versions during physical viewings to help buyers visualise potential layouts. 5 Offer Consideration Include staged visuals in follow-up materials, keeping the property top-of-mind against competitors. For dated or unfurnished homes, use virtual renovation staging to demonstrate achievable improvements with minimal investment. 6 Offer & Negotiation While less direct at this stage, staged visuals can still reinforce perceived value, especially if buyers revisit listings after surveys or during negotiations. The Future Of Real Estate Marketing In The UK The United States has been the prime example of AI tool adoption. Whether through Zillow’s acquisition of an AI staging company as part of its broader digital engagement strategy, or evidence showing that virtual staging continues to drive property sales post-pandemic, the trend is clear. According to a 2025 NAR report, 49% of buyers’ agents stated that virtual staging was integral to their clients’ property listing process. With online channels now serving as the primary touchpoint for property searches, coupled with its cost-effectiveness and rapid turnaround, AI virtual staging has become a core component of the digital-first property market in the US. In contrast, AI adoption in the UK real estate sector remains at a comparatively early stage. A 2023 McKinsey & Company survey found that only 20% of UK businesses were using generative AI at the time. Similarly, a 2024 CBRE report urged real estate firms to accelerate their adoption of AI, suggesting that the industry continues to lag behind global trends. A 2025 survey by Remit Consulting further illustrates this disparity: 37% of respondents reported they were trialling AI, 50% were using it ad-hoc, 9% had fully integrated it into their workflows, and 4% had no plans to adopt it. Despite the uneven implementation, most real estate professionals agreed that AI offers a competitive edge, though opinions vary between optimism about its potential and skepticism about its practical value. In conclusion, the uptake of AI in the UK real estate sector has been slower than in the United States, yet this should be seen as an opportunity rather than a shortcoming. As AI technology advances rapidly, late adopters will benefit from more refined, reliable, and capable systems. AI virtual staging already delivers high-quality, cost-effective results, and as model performance continues to improve, the benefits will increasingly outweigh concerns around cost, reliability, and trust. Looking ahead, budget and mid-market properties are expected to be the main beneficiaries as AI virtual staging becomes a standard marketing practice within the next few years, making tools once reserved for premium listings widely accessible. While traditional home staging will likely remain relevant for luxury properties, its dominance may decline as online listings and virtual presentation continue to play an increasingly important role in property marketing. At the same time, AI-generated video has made notable progress and is now reaching a level of commercial readiness that could eventually replace or supplement traditional property video tours, offering a faster, more flexible, automated, and cost-effective way to showcase properties. Key Takeaway AI tools are rapidly reshaping how properties are marketed, offering speed, affordability, and accessibility that traditional methods cannot match. While adoption in the UK remains in its early stages, the technology’s accelerating improvement and proven success in the US indicate that AI-driven visual and soon video marketing will soon become a standard component of property sales, particularly across the budget and mid-market segments.
