California's new AI listing-photo disclosure law, which takes effect Jan. 1 alongside a similar Wisconsin law, has multifamily owners facing reshoots. One listings CEO calls it the 'Real Estate Photographer Full Employment Act.' CoStar also made news this week: its Q3 call reported Matterport subscription growth and a profitability target, and it agreed to buy aerial imagery firm Vexcel for about $730 million. Phone-based Gaussian splat tools from SpAItial, KIRI Engine and Prevu3D round out the week.

Here is this week's roundup for real estate photographers and 3D capture pros:

1) Apartment Owners Scramble to Comply with New AI Listing-Photo Laws; One CEO Dubs California's Rule the 'Real Estate Photographer Full Employment Act'

AI-disclosure laws in California and Wisconsin take effect Jan. 1. Similar measures have been introduced or proposed in Washington, D.C., New York and New Jersey. California's law, signed Sept. 27, requires altered listing photos to be labeled and shown alongside the original, unaltered image so consumers can compare. Kevin Donnelly of the Real Estate Technology & Transformation Center estimates that 'thousands' of California apartment communities will need new photography, with reported costs as high as thousands of dollars per property. He says the industry is seeking relief from the law's record-production requirement.

Dwellsy CEO Jonas Bordo said 'nobody really keeps original photography.' He expects many listings won't be updated before the deadline and that lawsuits will follow. He nicknamed the measure the 'Real Estate Photographer Full Employment Act.' Nearly half of California's apartment stock was built before 1980, and owners of older buildings are less likely to have full photo records.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: This is a concrete, deadline-driven demand signal for photographers who serve property managers and multifamily owners, especially in California. It also makes archiving a selling point: photographers who keep and can deliver unedited originals alongside edited finals help clients comply. Members should consider adding original-file retention and delivery to their multifamily packages and reaching out to apartment clients before Jan. 1.

Read more: Bisnow

2) CoStar Q3: Matterport Subscription Revenue Up 11%, New Enterprise Customers Up 46%, Profitability Targeted by End of 2027

On its Q3 2026 earnings call, CoStar said Matterport's subscription revenue rose 11%, direct sales bookings rose 14% and new enterprise customers rose 46% year over year. Executives said they expect Matterport to be profitable by the end of 2027.

CoStar's total quarterly revenue was $952 million, up 14%. Residential revenue reached $460 million, up from $373 million a year ago. CEO Andy Florance said Homes.com is shifting most of its sales growth from inside sales to field reps who meet agents face-to-face.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: For members who built their businesses on Matterport, steady subscription growth and a stated profitability date suggest CoStar intends to keep investing in the platform. The 46% jump in new enterprise customers points to commercial and large-account growth, which is worth watching for service providers who take on enterprise capture work. Homes.com's shift to field sales also means more CoStar reps talking directly with agents in major markets.

Related discussion on WGAN: What CoStar's Acquisition of Matterport Means for Real Estate Photographers

Read more: HousingWire

3) SpAItial Launches Echo-3 and iPhone App to Turn Short Phone Walkthroughs into Measurable Gaussian Splats

SpAItial released Echo-3, a model that turns a few minutes of iPhone capture into a Gaussian splat scene at real-world scale. It also fills in areas the capture missed; in the company's words, the goal is to 'preserve what you captured and complete what you missed.' Scans are processed in the cloud and can be explored, measured and shared as a browser link. LiDAR Pro iPhones get live coverage guidance.

Processing costs 300 credits per scan minute, with a 900-credit minimum. The Pro plan includes up to 50 scan minutes a month and commercial rights. SpAItial lists exports including SPZ, SOG, meshes, normals and depth, and pitches its enterprise API for real estate visualization. The company has not published benchmark figures.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: This is another low-cost, phone-only route to an explorable 3D space, and agents may start asking about it. Its AI gap-filling also raises a question worth considering alongside this week's disclosure laws: what part of a generated scene was actually captured? 3D capture pros should test it so they can explain clearly where professional capture and accuracy still justify their pricing.

Read more: Radiance Fields

4) KIRI Engine 4.3 Speeds Up Gaussian Splat Training and Redesigns In-App Capture

KIRI Engine 4.3 reached the App Store on Oct. 24, two days after the Google Play update. The release notes list improved 3DGS training speed and quality, a redesigned capture experience and a 7-day free trial on the yearly plan. Neither store says how much faster training is.

KIRI also folded its Featureless Object Scan, used for shiny, reflective and transparent objects, into 3DGS Scan. The company announced Auto Capture and smoother splat backgrounds as well. 3DGS Scan with mesh output requires the Pro plan, which renews at $79.99 a year.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: Members experimenting with Gaussian splats get faster processing and a simpler capture flow from an inexpensive tool many already have on their phones. The 7-day trial makes it easy to compare KIRI against newer entrants like SpAItial on a real property before committing to either.

Read more: Radiance Fields

5) CoStar to Acquire Aerial Imagery Firm Vexcel for About $730 Million

CoStar agreed to buy Vexcel Group for about $730 million in cash, with closing expected in Q1 2027. Vexcel designs its own UltraCam cameras and flies them year-round, capturing more than 60 million images a year at 7.5 to 15 cm resolution. Its imagery covers 99.6% of the U.S. population.

CoStar CEO Andy Florance said the company believes AI can pull 'hundreds of data fields per property' from the imagery. Vexcel will keep its brand and CEO Erik Jorgensen. It reported more than $140 million in revenue over the past 12 months, up 30%.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: CoStar now owns Matterport interiors, portals like Homes.com and Apartments.com, and soon a national aerial imagery program. That steady build-out of its own property imagery and data could change what the portals expect from photographer- and drone-supplied exterior media. Drone operators should watch how Vexcel data shows up on CoStar listings and emphasize what survey aircraft can't deliver: low-altitude, listing-specific, marketing-grade aerials.

Read more: Virginia Business

6) Appraisers Warn Hidden Listing Photos and Private Listings Clash with UAD 3.6, Starting Nov. 2

New appraisal reporting standards under UAD 3.6 take effect Nov. 2. They require appraisers to choose structured data points from dropdown menus for every property feature instead of writing text descriptions. Virginia appraiser Desiree Mehbod said the standards require 'a staggering amount of high resolution interior data, structural metrics and photographs.'

Appraisers say agents increasingly remove interior photos and floor plans after a sale, and more homes sell through private listings. Both make comparable sales harder to verify. Florida appraiser Frank Gregoire said that when verification takes longer, he charges more.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: This shows that listing photos and measured floor plans have value after closing, not just during marketing. Photographers and floor plan providers can make that case to agents and brokerages and keep well-organized archives, which may open conversations with appraisers who need verified interior data.

Read more: HousingWire

7) Ricoh Expands Rugged THETA A1 360 Camera to the U.S., Canada and Australia

Ricoh is bringing the RICOH360 THETA A1 to the U.S., Canada and Australia, with standalone purchase options and wider distribution through authorized distributors and e-commerce. It is the first THETA model rated IP64-equivalent for dust and splashes. It operates from -10C to 40C, starts in about 3 seconds, and stitches and corrects tilt in-camera. It also records GPS and compass data with each image.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: The A1 is aimed at construction, infrastructure and facility documentation rather than listing tours. For 360 capture pros taking on commercial, exterior or job-site work in rough conditions, it adds a durable option from a camera line many already know.

Read more: Ricoh

8) Domain (CoStar) Launches Matterport Consumer Campaign and 3D Room Reveals for The Block

CoStar-owned Domain reported a combined residential audience of 7.6 million Australians in September, with its exclusive audience up 11.5% month over month. The results followed the launch of a Matterport campaign, 'the open home that's always open,' and Matterport 3D room reveals in the Domain app for the TV show The Block, where Domain is Exclusive Property Partner.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: CoStar is marketing Matterport tours directly to consumers on a portal it owns. If that playbook moves to Homes.com or other CoStar sites, buyers may come to expect 3D tours, which could drive agent demand. Members can point to campaigns like this when explaining to agents why tours matter in a slow market.

Read more: Domain Group

9) Prevu3D Adds Gaussian Splats to RealityPlatform from Insta360 X-Series Walkthroughs

Prevu3D says its RealityPlatform digital-twin software can now generate a Gaussian splat from Insta360 X-series 360 footage or Emesent GX1 captures. The same footage already produced a point cloud and a mesh. Users can also import existing .ply, .sog, .ksplat, .splat and .spz files. These are aligned with TLS, SLAM and drone LiDAR in one coordinate system and streamed in a standard browser.

Prevu3D publishes capture specs: Timelapse 360 at 5.7K, or 8K on the X6; a rigid pole mount; walking at about 4 to 6 km/h; and original .insv files uploaded straight from the SD card. The company says the feature reaches customers in fall 2026.

Why this matters to WGAN Members: Members who already shoot on Insta360 X-series cameras get another way to turn a single walk into a splat, a point cloud and a mesh. Because the platform targets industrial and facilities teams, it could open commercial digital-twin work beyond residential listings using gear members already own.

Read more: Prevu3D

WGAN Marketing Partner Spotlight: Roomio

Roomio turns a quick iPhone scan of a property into branded 2D and 3D floor plans and site plans, delivered in 12-24 hours (or about 10 hours with Express for 2D). It's built for real estate agents and photographers who want to add floor plans to their listings without extra hardware, and your first floor plan is free. Learn more about Roomio

The takeaway

Proof that an image is real is becoming a business asset. Disclosure laws require original photos, appraisers need post-sale interior images and floor plans, and CoStar is building its own imagery stack from Matterport interiors to Vexcel aerials. Members should start archiving unedited originals and offering them as a deliverable, contact multifamily clients before the Jan. 1 deadlines, and test the new phone-based splat tools so they can explain clearly where professional capture still wins.

What caught your eye this week? Did I miss a story WGAN Members should know about? Reply below.