Next-Level Real Estate Brokerage Web Design Trends

I introduced trends in an earlier post, setting a solid foundation of elements we are pretty familiar with and how they have evolved, recycled into the modern day. Those are essential, but the training wheels are off and there is a vast landscape of next-level web design trends that can take your custom real estate brokerage website to the cutting edge. These ideas are not only beautiful, but are designed with specific purpose to keep your users engaged, entertained and more likely to get in touch with one of your agents. Let’s dive in.

Mouse Movement Animations

Animation and interactivity have been commonly used elements in the web design community over the years, but a growing trend has been movement tied to your mouse movements. “Parallax movement” has been the latest example, where, as you scroll down a page, two different elements move at different speeds to create an effect of more depth on the screen. And another wave has been virtual reality immersion. But there is a happier middle ground between the two, and it is a bit more subtle. If you look at Italian wine makers De Buris’ site, you’ll find that they take a very immersive experience that involves more movement than your average sites this year.

de buris - next-level web design

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You almost feel like you’re in a funnel every time you scroll to another section, which creates a narrative about the company that comes to life. As you move your mouse around, the site moves with you.

Now, in the real estate world, it might be a stretch to apply it exactly like the wine makers, but a less-distorted effect across your neighborhood pages could go a long way in immersing your users within the community, as much as you possibly can within a screen — which should be your objective with every page. You want to give users a sense that they could see themselves living in this neighborhood, and instead of just looking at it, they can get a preview of what it would be like to move through it. It might be a very difficult style to apply to listing photos, as you want your user to have a very concrete sense of the property that this particular style might ruin, but it is not impossible. But for wide-scale images of your communities, you’ll have something that will definitely set you apart in the industry.

Next-Level Parallax

I talked in the previous paragraph about parallax, and traditionally, its first inception was with wide hero images that would move at a different pace than your scroll. There was not an incredible amount of utility outside of looking cool. But parallax in 2018 and beyond has gone next-level, having a lot to do with showcasing physical products. The results are incredible.

I’ve always admired  for their attention to their design, and their latest iteration is a peach. Almost every page has some sort of advanced parallax effect that showcases their products. As you scroll, products come from the sides of the screen as if it’s a vaudeville show, and as you scroll further, the stereo products presented start to turn like in a fashion show.

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parallax - next-level web design

Apple is another popular example of recent that uses this technique for their new product launch pages.

This interaction might be a little more tough to pull off for a real estate brokerage website, as you would need 3D images to piece together, and in real estate, our products are quite large. But if you are a very tech-savvy firm, you could showcase a featured agent on your home page or you could incorporate elements of your logo to pop out from the sides or bottom of your website to add that touch of brand recognition that hammers home what type of brokerage you actually are. The more practical route is to use your 2D images and use direction for your parallax that indicates intent and control of what content a user should consume, and where they do it.

Seamless Interactive Grids

I’m always a big proponent of seamless experiences, where any interactivity you encounter stays (or at least appears to stay) on the page that you landed on. Domino’s Pizza built a great site that accomplishes just that. Not only do they have incredible illustrations that set a very strong brand utility, but they fully immerse you with a simple concept that spreads across the page and makes it appear huge. And when you finally decide to interact with the pages, the cards within the grid pop off the page and focus in on a single interaction you have to make, which, in this case, is tying specific events toward ordering pizza.

dominos - next-level web design

This might be the most practical trend that you could apply to your real estate brokerage website, as the grid is a natural way to browse for listings. Having them sprawled across the entire page may be a bit overbearing, but over time, with next-level advances in accessible technology, I think these types of layouts are going to become the norm. And being able to lay listings out on your proverbial “digital table” and flipping card after card up — for real estate, that means flipping through photos and ultimately reaching out to contact an agent or schedule a showing — makes this an incredibly useful layout trend to watch and follow.

At TRIBUS, we always have an ear or two to the ground for next-level web design trends. Check out some of our projects here.

Jason is the heart and soul of the creative team at TRIBUS. He invests himself heavily in every single web page design in order to craft experiences that are meaningful for all users. In addition to being an excellent graphic and interaction designer, he’s obsessed with typography and dabbles in video editing. Jason has also worked on a few major branding projects, the TRIBUS brand overhaul being one of his latest accomplishments.
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