Facebook ads for real estate
Facebook and Instagram reach people before they start searching: someone scrolling past a new listing, an open house or an agent's local market update. Meta gives real estate advertisers three useful tools for this, home listing catalogs, lead ads and call ads, but housing ads also come with audience limits that most other businesses do not have. This guide covers what those limits leave you to work with and how to set up listing and lead campaigns.
The facts here come from Meta Business Help Center pages: About ads for housing, employment or financial products and services, About audiences for housing, employment and financial ads, About catalogs for products and services, About Advantage+ catalog ads for lead generation, Create an Advantage+ catalog ad for lead generation, About lead ads, Ask the right questions on your lead ads with instant form and Questions prohibited on your instant form. Where we give an opinion, we say so. Meta does not publish a cost per lead for real estate, and we do not quote one.
The short answer
- Listings and real estate services are housing ads under Meta's rules. You declare the Housing Special Ad Category, and age, gender, ZIP code and some interest targeting are fixed or removed.
- You can still choose countries, regions and cities, and use the creative and the offer to reach the right people.
- A real estate catalog holds your home listings, so one ad can show different homes to different people.
- Lead ads collect contact details on Facebook or Instagram, or start a call or a chat. Housing lead forms in the US and Canada cannot ask for some details, such as ZIP code.
- Install the Meta Pixel on your site: catalog ads need it, and it lets you count the leads that matter.
The Housing category
Meta's page on housing, employment and financial ads defines housing ads as ads "that promote or directly link to a housing opportunity or related service". Its examples include "Sale, rental or temporary housing listings" and "Real estate and house hunting services", as well as mortgage loans and home equity or appraisal services; general tips on buying a home and fair housing education are not covered. Declaring the category, where it applies and what happens when an ad is rejected are covered in our guide to Meta special ad categories, so we do not repeat them here.
What targeting remains
Meta's audience page lists the limits. They apply to advertisers based in the US or US territories, and to advertisers showing ads to people in the US or US territories, Canada and certain European countries and territories. In short:
- Location: you can target "country, region, state, province or city", but not a ZIP or postal code, and you "can't exclude locations". A city, address or pin drop target includes a wider radius: 15 miles (25 km) in the US and Canada, 10 miles (17 km) in the listed European countries.
- Age and gender: age is generally fixed at 18 through 65+, and "Audiences must include all genders."
- Detailed targeting: "Some demographic, behavior and interest options are unavailable", and you cannot exclude detailed targeting.
- Lookalikes: Advantage+ lookalike is unavailable, and a saved audience is updated to comply.
- Custom audiences: Meta notes that some options, such as custom audiences, "may only be available via Meta Ads Manager". The options you choose must still follow Meta's Discriminatory Practices policy. See Meta custom audiences for how they work.
Meta also states that choosing a category does not limit your audience "to only people interested in housing". In practice the city you pick, the listing in the ad and the words you use do most of the work that narrow targeting would do for other businesses.
Listings in a real estate catalog
A Meta catalog is a list of the items you want to advertise. One of the catalog types Meta lists is "Real estate: Home listings for rent or for sale", and each type has its own product data requirements. You create the catalog in Commerce Manager, add listings by data feed or a partner platform, and group them into sets; our Meta catalog guide covers those steps. One limit worth knowing: product sets for real estate catalogs are built with filters, because manual selection is not available for them (see product sets).
Keep the feed current. A sold or rented home that still shows in ads wastes money and annoys the people who ask about it.
Catalog ads that collect leads
Standard Advantage+ catalog ads send people to an external page. Meta's lead generation version keeps them on Facebook or Instagram instead, in two ways: an instant form, or a call ad whose "Call now" button opens the phone keypad with your number filled in. You choose Instant forms or Calls as the conversion location at the ad set level.
Meta uses real estate as its own example: "a real estate agent can use Advantage+ catalog ads to showcase many of their available properties. The houses shown to each person will vary based on their interests." It names automotive, real estate and travel as the industries where this format "may be especially helpful", and says it helps you see which listings people are most interested in when they submit the form.
Before you begin, Meta asks for a catalog and an installed Meta Pixel. Automotive and travel advertisers have extra catalog and pixel requirements; Meta lists none of that kind for real estate.
Lead ads for agents
Meta lists three kinds of lead ads: lead ads with calling, lead ads with instant form, and lead ads that click to message, which open a chat in Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp. Form types, privacy policy, setup and downloading leads are in our Meta lead ads guide. For real estate, three points matter most:
- What you may not ask. If you run lead ads for housing opportunities based in or targeted to the US or Canada, Meta says "you may not collect certain information", including age, gender, marital or relationship status and location details such as "street address, city, postal code and zip code". Meta's question guide suggests zip code for a "Test drive or showing" form in automotive and real estate, but the housing rule takes priority for US and Canadian housing ads.
- Custom questions. Meta allows custom fields about a person's location preferences for your service in some cases, as long as they do not mimic prohibited prefill questions. "Which neighborhoods are you looking in?" is the kind of question that fits; a question asking for their home address is not.
- Financial questions. Meta's prohibited list for every instant form includes financial information such as "credit score, net worth, income, bankruptcy status and debt status". Questions about pre-approval amounts or income belong in your follow-up call, not the form.
Pixel and tracking
Install the Meta Pixel, and add the Conversions API if you can, so that Meta sees viewed listings, form submissions and calls; see Meta Pixel and Conversions API. Tag the links in your ads with UTM parameters so website leads show up by campaign in your analytics. Then mark in your CRM which leads became appointments and clients: a cheap lead that never answers the phone is not cheap.
Lead ads with instant forms keep people on Facebook, so the listing page matters less for them. For ads that send people to your site, a fast landing page with the listing and a short form is what turns the click into a lead.
Where to start (our view)
This section is our opinion, not a rule from Meta.
- Start with one lead ad for a clear offer: a free home valuation for sellers or a showing request for a listing, aimed at the cities you cover.
- Add a catalog once you have several active listings and the pixel is in place, and use catalog ads with an instant form or a call button.
- Call every lead quickly. Form leads go cold fast; how fast you answer matters more than any targeting choice you are allowed to make.
- Pair it with search. Facebook reaches people before they search; Google reaches them when they do. See Google Ads for real estate agents and Google Ads vs Facebook ads.
Advertising a service rather than listings? See Facebook ads for local businesses. We set up and run Meta and Google ads for local businesses through our marketing services.
Frequently asked questions
Do Facebook ads work for real estate agents?
They can, because they reach buyers and sellers before they start searching, and lead ads let people ask about a listing without leaving Facebook. Results depend on the area, the offer and how fast you follow up. Track leads through to signed clients before you judge.
Do I have to use the Housing special ad category?
Yes, if the ad promotes or links to a housing opportunity or related service, such as listings or real estate services, and you are based in or advertise to the US, Canada or the European countries Meta lists. General home buying tips are not covered.
Can I target real estate ads by ZIP code on Facebook?
No. Housing ads can target a country, region, state, province or city, but not a ZIP or postal code, and city targets include a 15-mile (25 km) radius in the US and Canada.
Can I show my listings in Facebook ads?
Yes. Create a real estate catalog of your home listings and use Advantage+ catalog ads; Meta's lead generation version adds an instant form or a call button, and needs a catalog and an installed Meta Pixel.
What can I ask on a real estate lead form?
For housing ads in or aimed at the US or Canada, you cannot ask for age, gender, marital status or location details such as address, city or ZIP code, and no instant form may ask for income or credit score. Contact details and custom questions about the home someone wants are fine.
How much do Facebook ads cost for real estate?
There is no set price. Meta prices ads in an auction and you set the budget; see how Facebook ads are priced. Meta does not publish a real estate average, so start with a small budget and measure cost per lead in your own area.