AR in Real Estate and Interior Design: Selling Spaces Before They’re Built
What’s new in AR this month? In August 2025, Zillow announced the rollout of AR-powered home tours in select U.S. markets, enabling buyers to virtually explore unfinished properties at 1:1 scale. Meanwhile, IKEA expanded its AR furniture placement app to include wall finishes, flooring choices, and lighting simulations, giving customers unprecedented control over home personalization. These milestones confirm that augmented reality (AR) is reshaping how we buy, sell, and design real estate in 2025.
Why AR in Real Estate Matters
Buying or renting property has always relied heavily on imagination. Buyers view 2D floor plans or staged photos and try to envision how spaces might feel once finished or personalized. AR eliminates guesswork by projecting interactive digital overlays into physical or unfinished environments. This not only accelerates decision-making but also increases buyer confidence and reduces costly redesigns.
Core Applications of AR in Real Estate
1. Immersive Property Tours
AR enables buyers to walk through properties—even before construction begins. By wearing AR glasses or using a smartphone, clients can explore floor plans at full scale, understand room proportions, and test different design options. Developers now use AR to pre-sell apartments, giving clients confidence long before projects are completed.
2. Virtual Staging
Staging is expensive, time-consuming, and often limited to one design aesthetic. AR solves this by allowing agents to virtually furnish properties. Prospective buyers can instantly switch between styles—modern, minimalist, traditional—helping them imagine the property as their future home.
3. Customization and Upgrades
Builders and interior designers use AR apps to let buyers select materials, finishes, and layouts. From flooring options to kitchen cabinets, buyers can preview upgrades in context. This not only increases upselling opportunities for developers but also improves buyer satisfaction.
4. Remote Real Estate Sales
For international buyers, AR bridges geographic barriers. Instead of traveling to tour properties, clients can use AR overlays on digital models to experience spaces remotely. This feature has gained traction in luxury real estate, where overseas buyers represent a significant share of sales.
How AR Supports Interior Design
1. Space Planning
Interior designers rely on AR to test different layouts. Clients can visualize how sofas, dining tables, or beds fit into rooms, avoiding costly mistakes. AR also supports ergonomic planning, ensuring that movement flows and furniture placement align with comfort and accessibility.
2. Material and Finish Visualization
Designers use AR to project finishes onto walls, floors, and ceilings. This helps clients compare color schemes, materials, and textures in real time. Instead of imagining how marble might look against oak, AR provides an immediate preview.
3. Lighting Simulations
Lighting is one of the most challenging aspects of design to visualize. AR apps simulate natural and artificial light at different times of day, helping designers and clients make informed decisions on fixtures, placement, and ambiance.
4. Collaborative Design
AR platforms allow clients, designers, and contractors to collaborate in real time. Multiple users can view and adjust AR models simultaneously, streamlining approvals and reducing miscommunication.
Real-World Examples in 2025
- Zillow AR Tours: Homebuyers in pilot markets can now explore unfinished properties in AR, improving buyer confidence and shortening sales cycles.
- IKEA Place 2.0: Expanded functionality lets users preview full-room designs, from furniture to finishes, before purchasing.
- Lennar Homes (USA): Builders use AR to allow buyers to select and preview upgrades, increasing customization revenue.
- Luxury Real Estate in Dubai: AR remote tours are helping international buyers secure properties sight unseen.
Quick Facts & Data Insights
- AR staging reduces average property time-on-market by up to 31%.
- 72% of millennial buyers say they prefer AR-enabled tours over static photos.
- Developers using AR customization see a 22% increase in upgrade sales compared to traditional catalogs.
Benefits of AR in Real Estate and Interior Design
- Buyer confidence: AR eliminates uncertainty by showing properties and design options in realistic detail.
- Faster sales: Properties move quicker when buyers can visualize them at scale.
- Customization: Buyers get exactly what they want, reducing post-sale dissatisfaction.
- Global reach: AR expands access to international buyers, supporting remote sales.
Challenges to Adoption
- Hardware costs: AR glasses remain expensive, though smartphone-based AR apps are improving accessibility.
- Data integration: Real estate listings and AR models must sync seamlessly to avoid errors.
- User readiness: Not all clients are comfortable navigating immersive technologies.
- Content quality: Poorly rendered AR models can misrepresent spaces, damaging trust.
Best Practices for AR in Real Estate and Design
- Focus on accuracy: Ensure AR measurements and renderings reflect real-world scale and proportions.
- Offer multiple styles: Provide buyers with diverse staging options to appeal to varied tastes.
- Integrate with CRM: Link AR experiences with sales platforms for smoother workflows.
- Educate clients: Provide simple onboarding for less tech-savvy users to increase adoption.
Looking Ahead: AR in Real Estate by 2030
By the end of the decade, AR will be inseparable from property sales and design. Smart glasses will allow buyers to visualize spaces as they tour in person, while AI-driven AR assistants will suggest layout optimizations and energy-efficient design choices. In interior design, AR will move beyond visualization to full automation, enabling clients to approve changes with voice or gesture commands. Combined with digital twins, AR will create seamless, end-to-end experiences that connect buyers, designers, and builders in one immersive ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- AR in real estate bridges imagination and reality, helping buyers visualize spaces before construction or purchase.
- Interior designers leverage AR for layout, finish, and lighting simulations that reduce costly mistakes.
- Adoption is growing quickly, with real-world examples from Zillow, IKEA, and global luxury developers.
- By 2030, AR will be a standard expectation in property tours, staging, and interior design workflows.
