What going viral means for D.C.-area real estate

Videos of sexy real estate listings have brought 3.7 million followers and 61 millions views to D.C. agent Daniel Heider's TikTok account.

Why it matters: " Screen appeal is the new curb appeal," Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy tells Axios.

What they're saying: "Real estate is definitely a popularity contest where the listings with the most amount of attention usually win," Daniel Heider, of HEIDER Real Estate, tells Axios.

• One of Heider's earlier viral videos was of a Potomac listing on River Road. It drew so much attention that the broker's open blocked traffic. It sold shortly after for a whopping $7.4 million, a record at the time.

Follow the money: " Zillow Gone Wild " creator Samir Mezrahi parlayed his popularity into a new HGTV show that cashes in on viewers' nosiness about other people's homes.

• "When I'm bored on my phone, I like to look at houses everywhere. And I think other people do that, but there wasn't a space for people to talk about that," Mezrahi said at a South by Southwest panel.
• He posts what he calls "the most interesting homes across America," from castles to brightly colored mansions .

The big picture: Some real estate agents say punchy social media videos are helping them find new buyers, particularly first-timers.

• TikTok saw a 40% increase in posts tagged #RealEstate during the first two months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, Bloomberg reports.

Between the lines: Generating leads is top of mind for many agents. Home sales fizzled last year, and a big settlement could curtail the commissions real estate professionals get paid.