Short answer: Meta asks advertisers in the United States, or targeting it, to identify housing ads as a Special Ad Category. In that category, age is generally fixed at 18 through 65+ and audiences include all genders. ZIP codes and location exclusions are unavailable, and a city or a dropped pin comes with a 15-mile radius. In Florida, rule 61J2-10.025 requires the brokerage firm’s licensed name in all real estate advertisements.
Before you read: We based this guide on Meta’s help pages on Special Ad Categories, its Discriminatory Practices policy and its developer documentation. We also used Florida’s rule 61J2-10.025 on real estate advertising, in the version in effect since February 5, 2007. We read them on November 12, 2026, the date each limit in this guide carries. It is general information, not legal advice.
When a real estate ad needs the housing category
Meta’s Discriminatory Practices policy asks advertisers in the United States to self identify housing ads as a Special Ad Category. The same goes for advertisers targeting the United States, Canada or certain parts of Europe.
The policy also asks that those ads run with approved targeting options. Meta’s help says the category brings limited audience selection tools for ads about housing opportunities, to help protect people from unlawful discrimination.
When you create a campaign, Meta’s help says you are required to specify whether it promotes a Special Ad Category. It adds that ads may be rejected if an appropriate category isn’t chosen.
Meta’s developer documentation, updated May 21, 2026, covers home listings. It says Advantage+ catalog ads using home listing catalogs have to adhere to Special Ad Category restrictions. When creating the campaign, these advertisers should specify housing, it adds.
In our view, treat any ad that offers a home for sale or rent as a housing ad, including a single listing or an open house.
What the housing category limits
Meta’s help lists the audience options that are limited or unavailable for housing ads: age, gender, ZIP code, audience exclusions, lookalike audiences, saved audiences and some interests.
Those limits apply to advertisers based in the US or US territories. They also apply to advertisers showing ads to audiences there, in Canada and in certain European countries and territories.
Age options are generally fixed to include ages 18 through 65+, Meta says. Audiences include all genders, and that option can’t be edited.
Some demographic, behavior and interest options are unavailable, and so is excluding any detailed targeting selection. Advantage+ lookalike is unavailable too.
If you use a saved audience, Meta’s help says it is updated to fit the category’s audience restrictions. Advantage+ catalog ads, previously known as dynamic ads, are subject to the same limitations.
Meta’s help also says the options you choose can’t discriminate against people based on certain personal characteristics, as its Discriminatory Practices policy defines them.
That policy names personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.
It also bars discriminatory content in ads. The policy requires advertisers to follow applicable laws that prohibit discrimination, for example in offers of housing.
In our view, describe the home and the area, never the buyer you picture.
Our guide to Facebook lead ads covers instant forms, including the details Meta doesn’t let a housing ad collect.
Location and the wider radius
Meta’s help says a housing ad can target a geographic location such as a country, region, state, province or city, but not a ZIP code or postal code. You can’t exclude locations either.
Audiences based on a city, an address or a dropped pin include an expanded radius. In Meta’s example, an audience in the city of Seattle also takes in people within a 15-mile radius of the city center.
Meta lists the United States and Canada as the countries where a 15-mile, or 25-kilometer, radius is required for these locations.
In our view, name the neighborhood or city in the ad itself, because the audience will reach well past it.
Our guide to local Facebook ads covers how Meta decides who is near you and how to check where your ads ran.
How to set up a housing campaign
In Meta Ads Manager, Meta’s help says to create a campaign or open an existing one, then select Special Ad Categories.
Below Categories, choose the category that applies to your campaign. Below Countries, choose the country or countries where you want it to run.
Meta notes that a Special Ad Category may limit your audience options during the ad creation process.
For the audience, Meta’s help says to go to your ad set and scroll down to Audience.
Meta encourages advertisers to broaden, not restrict, their audience. It says its audience options have to be used in ways that are inclusive and not discriminatory.
In our view, let the ad copy carry what the settings no longer do: the area, the type of home and the price range.
Our guide to running Facebook ads covers the rest of a campaign in Ads Manager, from creating the campaign to setting up the ad set.
If Meta rejects a housing ad, our guide to Facebook ads policy covers why ads get rejected and how to request another review.
Our Meta Ads page says we plan, make and run ads on Facebook and Instagram, in English and Spanish. Its answers say housing ads fall into special ad categories that limit targeting by age, gender and location. They also say we set those campaigns up inside the rules.
What Florida’s rule asks of a real estate ad
Florida’s rule 61J2-10.025, titled Advertising, comes from the Florida Real Estate Commission.
The rule asks for all advertising to be in a manner in which reasonable persons would know they are dealing with a real estate licensee.
All real estate advertisements have to include the licensed name of the brokerage firm, under the rule. No ad a licensee places, or has someone place, may be fraudulent, false, deceptive or misleading.
When the licensee’s personal name appears in an ad, the rule asks for at least the last name, used the way it is registered with the Commission.
For advertising on a site on the Internet, the rule places the brokerage firm name adjacent to, or immediately above or below, the point of contact information.
It defines point of contact information as any means by which to contact the brokerage firm or the individual licensee. That includes mailing and street addresses, email addresses, and telephone or fax numbers.
The rule’s other requirements apply to advertising on a site on the Internet as well. The rule doesn’t name social media or Facebook.
In our view, put the brokerage name in every ad, next to any phone number or email address the ad shows.
Before your housing campaign goes live
In our view, check before the campaign goes live:
- The campaign has the housing category, with the United States under Countries.
- The ad set leaves age and gender as Meta sets them for the category.
- The ad names the neighborhood or city, since the audience reaches past it.
- The text and pictures describe the home and the area, not the buyer.
- The brokerage firm’s licensed name appears in the ad, next to any phone number or email address.
- Where an agent’s name appears, the last name matches the one registered with the Commission.
RememberMeta asks advertisers in the United States, or targeting it, to identify housing ads as a Special Ad Category. The category limits age, gender and ZIP code targeting and adds a 15-mile radius to a city or a pin. Florida’s rule 61J2-10.025 asks for the brokerage firm’s licensed name in all real estate advertisements.
Questions about Facebook ads for real estate
Does a real estate ad on Facebook need the housing category?
Meta’s Discriminatory Practices policy asks advertisers in the United States, or targeting it, to self identify housing ads as a Special Ad Category. Its developer documentation covers catalog ads built on home listing catalogs too. Meta adds that ads may be rejected if an appropriate category isn’t chosen.
Can a housing ad on Facebook target by age or gender?
Not in the usual way. Meta’s help says age options are generally fixed to include ages 18 through 65+ for housing ads, and audiences include all genders, with no option to edit that. Some demographic, behavior and interest options are unavailable too.
Can a housing ad leave out part of a city?
No, according to Meta’s help: these campaigns can’t exclude locations or target ZIP codes. Audiences built on a city, an address or a dropped pin include an expanded radius, 15 miles in the United States and Canada. Excluding detailed targeting selections is unavailable as well.
Do the housing limits apply to a single agent’s ad account?
Meta’s help says the restrictions apply to individual and multiple ad accounts. They may depend on the country you’re in and whether your ads reach people in other countries. They cover advertisers based in the US or US territories, and those showing ads to audiences there, in Canada and in certain European countries.
What does Florida’s rule ask a real estate ad to show?
Rule 61J2-10.025 asks for the licensed name of the brokerage firm in all real estate advertisements. On a site on the Internet, that name goes adjacent to, or immediately above or below, the point of contact information. In our view, show the brokerage name in the ad text itself.
Sources
All read on November 12, 2026. From the Meta Business Help Center: How to choose a Special Ad Category and About audiences for housing, employment or financial products and services campaigns. From Meta’s Advertising Standards: Discriminatory Practices. From Meta’s developer documentation: Special Ad Categories, updated May 21, 2026. From the Florida Administrative Code: rule 61J2-10.025 Advertising, in the version in effect since February 5, 2007.