As the coronavirus upends the buying process, house hunters are increasingly relying on Redfin’s virtual technology for viewing and closing on homes. 

Redfin saw a 494% increase in requests for agent-led video home tours last week, following an 80% increase the prior week, as homebuyers began relying heavily on virtual viewings amid the coronavirus outbreak. As of yesterday, 18.9% of tour requests made on Redfin.com were video-chat tour requests, up from 0.2% at the beginning of March—a 94-fold increase.

Along with live video-chat tours, prospective buyers can see the inside of nearly any Redfin-listed home with three-dimensional scans, powered

We started looking at places to buy as soon as the ink on our own home’s contracts were dry. We’d just sold and we were fired up and excited to buy our next home. But everything changed last week when the coronavirus crisis took hold. 

In our mid-30s, my partner and I have lived in more than our fair share of rentals. So when we finally managed to save up a deposit and buy a home, we couldn’t have been happier.

Three years on, and we are ready to buy our next place. But the global health pandemic has thrown