Real Estate Connected TV Advertising Benchmarks 2026: CPM, VCR and ROAS

There is no real estate-specific CTV benchmark for CPM, video completion rate or ROAS; the usable figures are cross-industry: about USD 9.50 streaming CPMs, 95% completion on CTV and vendor-reported ROAS. Below, each metric is sourced and paired with NAR housing data.

Key Takeaways

• Streaming CPMs averaged about USD 9.50 against USD 2.50 for linear in Tatari's 2019-2023 data.
• Interactive CTV completion rates reached 95% in Innovid's 2021 dataset, against 62% on PC and mobile.
• MNTN reported a blended 8.35x ROAS for its advertisers during the 2026 soccer tournament (vendor data, cross-industry).
• NAR reported existing-home sales at a 3.98 million annual rate in August 2026.
• The median existing-home price was USD 429,100, up 1.6% year over year.
• 88% of buyers and 91% of sellers used an agent (NAR 2025 Profile).
• First-time buyers fell to a record-low 21% share, with a median age of 40.
• US open programmatic CTV traffic was 18% invalid in Q3 2025 (Pixalate).

CPM, VCR and ROAS at a glance

The title promises three benchmarks. Here is the best available figure for each, with the dataset and why none of them is a real estate number.

CPM: what streaming inventory costs

Tatari's analysis of its client data found streaming CPMs typically three to four times linear, about USD 9.50 against USD 2.50. Tatari adds that its streaming rates are already below market because of direct publisher deals, often 66% cheaper than programmatic, and that last-minute linear fire sales can go beyond 90% off rate card. A brokerage buying programmatically through a local reseller should expect to pay above the USD 9.50 figure.

Roku Ads Manager prices on dynamic CPM with a minimum lifetime budget of USD 500 per campaign, so a listing-launch flight can be tested cheaply, though CPM on the day will vary with demand.

VCR: why completion rates look so high

The Innovid Global Benchmarks report, covering 286 billion impressions served in 2021, found interactive CTV completion rising from 85% to 95%, far above the 62% for PC and mobile. Innovid attributes the gap to viewers typically having to watch the ad for content to continue. A mid-90s VCR confirms the ad ran; it does not show a buyer remembered the listing.

The same dataset found US CTV campaigns reached on average only 9.23% of the more than 95 million CTV households Innovid serves. A high VCR on a narrow audience is common, so pair completion with reach in every report.

ROAS: the weakest metric for real estate

Return on ad spend assumes a sale soon after exposure. Home transactions follow a median 10-week search, according to NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and commissions arrive at closing. The ROAS figures that exist are vendor-measured and cross-industry. MNTN Research reports its advertisers running during live 2026 tournament games delivered a blended 8.35x ROAS, nearly 58,000 conversions and more than 1.2 million site visits from about 35 million impressions.

The one real estate example we found is MNTN's commercial real estate case study: CPA 20% under target, a 25.5% visit rate and 3.55 pages per session. It is a single vendor case and reports cost per acquisition, not ROAS.

The housing market behind the ads

NAR's August 2026 existing-home sales report put sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million, down 2.0% on July, with a median price of USD 429,100, the 38th straight month of annual gains. Inventory rose to 1.62 million units, 4.9 months of supply, and the median home sat 31 days on market.

NAR's 2025 Profile release and survey (6,103 buyer responses) put first-time buyers at a record-low 21% of purchases with a median age of 40, while repeat buyers' median age reached 62. Those are older, established households. Streaming held 49.0% of all US TV time in July 2026, but Nielsen's Q2 2026 Ad Supported Gauge shows streaming's share of ad-supported viewing dropping to 44.4% among adults 18+, so linear still matters for this audience.

Where CTV fits in the buyer and seller journey

NAR's 2025 Profile describes a long, agent-led process: buyers searched a median of 10 weeks, 92% were satisfied with the buying process, and sellers ranked marketing the home to potential buyers among their top three priorities for an agent. Only 5% of sales were FSBO, a record low. That makes the agent, not the listing, the thing most real estate CTV is really selling. A spot that builds recognition of a brokerage in the ZIP codes it farms can influence which agent a seller calls months later; a listing spot can support a specific launch. Neither shows up cleanly in ROAS, which is why the benchmarks above should be read as cost and delivery context rather than proof of return.

CTV is growing for local advertisers

The IAB's 2026 video report estimates US digital video ad spend at USD 81.9 billion, with CTV growing 11%, and says the share of small spenders buying CTV rose from 60% in 2024 to 85% in 2026 as self-serve platforms lowered the barrier. For brokerages that operate in a few ZIP codes, self-serve geo-targeting is what makes CTV feasible.

Turning the benchmarks into a budget check

The cross-industry figures can still sanity-check a proposal. At a USD 9.50 CPM, every USD 1,000 buys roughly 105,000 impressions; at a frequency near the 7.42 average Innovid reported for 2023 campaigns, that is about 14,000 households reached, before any invalid traffic is removed. A proposal promising far more reach per dollar is either buying cheaper inventory or assuming lower frequency, and the buyer should ask which. The arithmetic is illustrative, built only from the published figures on this page; your own CPM will depend on the platform, the ZIP codes and the week.

Invalid traffic

Pixalate's Q3 2025 North America benchmarks, from more than 106 billion programmatic impressions, found 18% of US open programmatic CTV traffic invalid and 20% in Canada. Every invalid impression still counts toward the CPM you pay, so the effective cost of real views is higher than the invoice suggests.

Advertising rules: NAR Code and Fair Housing

Article 12 of the NAR Code of Ethics requires REALTORS to present a true picture in advertising and make their status as real estate professionals readily apparent; Standard of Practice 12-5 requires the firm name in any medium, television included. HUD's rule at 24 CFR 100.75 treats selecting media or locations that deny particular segments of the housing market information because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin as discriminatory. CTV audience targeting falls squarely under it.

Better metrics for a brokerage CTV test

1. Report reach and frequency alongside completion; 9.23% average household reach is the warning.
2. Use cost per listing inquiry or seller valuation request instead of ROAS.
3. Keep spots at 30 seconds or less, where completion reached 80% or more.
4. Buy direct or curated inventory to limit the 18% open-exchange invalid rate.
5. Audit every audience for Fair Housing compliance before launch.

More channel data: connected TV advertising benchmarks, real estate SMS marketing statistics and real estate influencer data. For a measurement plan, contact our data intelligence team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average CPM for real estate CTV ads?

No published dataset reports a real estate CTV CPM. The best-documented cross-industry figure is Tatari's client data from 2019 to 2023: streaming CPMs of about USD 9.50 against USD 2.50 for linear, bought through direct publisher deals that Tatari says are often 66% cheaper than programmatic. Roku prices on dynamic CPM.

What video completion rate should a real estate CTV ad get?

Innovid's Global Benchmarks report, covering video impressions served in 2021, found interactive CTV completion rates of 95%, up from 85% in 2020, against 62% for PC and mobile. Ads of 30 seconds or less completed at 80% or more across devices. These are cross-industry figures; high completion reflects mostly non-skippable inventory.

Is there a ROAS benchmark for real estate on CTV?

No. ROAS is also a poor fit for brokerages, because a commission lands months after the ad. The published figures are vendor-measured and cross-industry, for example MNTN's blended 8.35x ROAS for advertisers running on its platform during the 2026 soccer tournament. A single commercial real estate case study reported a CPA 20% under target rather than a ROAS.

Can real estate CTV ads target specific audiences?

Yes, but Fair Housing rules apply. HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 100.75 lists selecting media or locations for advertising that deny particular segments of the housing market information about housing opportunities because of a protected characteristic as a discriminatory practice. Geography and life-stage targeting must be reviewed with that in mind.

How big is the US resale market right now?

NAR reported existing-home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million in August 2026, a median price of USD 429,100 and 4.9 months of supply. First-time buyers made up 30% of August sales.

Sources

_{Tatari, linear vs streaming CPMs
Innovid, CTV Takes Center Stage global benchmarks (via IAB)
MNTN Research, advertisers during the 2026 soccer tournament
MNTN, commercial real estate case study
NAR, existing-home sales, August 2026
NAR, 2025 Profile press release
NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers highlights
NAR, 2026 Code of Ethics
eCFR, 24 CFR 100.75
Nielsen, The Gauge, July 2026
IAB, 2026 Digital Video Ad Spend and Strategy report
Pixalate, Q3 2025 North America IVT benchmarks
Roku Ads Manager, campaign budget and schedule}