03/07/2018
Airbnb helps hosts rent all or part of their home to guests as an alternative to traditional hospitality settings. Airbnb venues are not uniformly regulated across the USA. This study quantified the reported prevalence of fire safety and first-aid amenities in Airbnb venues in the USA. The sample includes 120 691 venues in 16 US cities. Proportions of host-reported smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, fire extinguishers and first-aid kits were calculated. The proportion of venues that reportedly contained amenities are as follows: smoke detectors 80% (n=96 087), CO detectors 56% (n=69 346), fire extinguishers 42% (n=50 884) and first-aid kits 36% (n=43 497). Among this sample of Airbnb venues, safety deficiencies were noted. While most venues had smoke alarms, approximately 1/2 had CO alarms and less than 1/2 reported having a fire extinguishers or first-aid kits. Local and state governments or Airbnb must implement regulations compliant with current National Fire Protection Association fire safety standards.
The Unintended Consequences of Home Sharing: Airbnb’s Pressure on Affordability
UCLA Economic Letter Real Estate and the Macroeconomy
02/27/2018
Economic theory suggests that the “sharing economy” improves economic efficiency by reducing frictions that cause capacity to go underutilized…critics argue, however, that much of the growth in the sharing economy has come from skirting regulations. For example, traditional taxi drivers face more stringent regulations than Uber drivers, and traditional providers of short-term rentals (i.e. hotels, beds & breakfasts) are required to pay occupancy tax while Airbnb hosts usually are not.
But beyond regulatory avoidance, home-sharing is subject to the criticism that platforms like Airbnb raise the cost of living for local renters, while mainly benefiting landlords and non-resident tourists…this study assesses the impact of home-sharing on residential house prices and rents.
From Air Mattresses to Unregulated Business, An Analysis of the Other Side of Airbnb; Spotlight Region: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, California
The Penn State University School of Hospitality Management
03/31/2016
The Phase II release of a study conducted by the Pennsylvania State University School of Hospitality Management provides a detailed analysis of the commercial activity taking place in Los Angeles (LA) on Airbnb, one of the most trafficked short-term rental websites. Key findings include: while a small percentage of operators listed properties for rent more than 360 days per year – just like a hotel – they accounted for nearly $80 million, more than 30% of Airbnb’s LA revenue; 22% of operators listed properties for rent more than half the year (180 days), accounting for more than $180 million, or almost 70% of Airbnb’s LA revenue. The overwhelming majority of Airbnb’s LA revenue comes from hosts renting units 30 days or more.
From Air Mattresses to Unregulated Business, An Analysis of the Other Side of Airbnb; Spotlight Region: Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Arizona
The Penn State University School of Hospitality Management
03/23/2016
The overwhelming majority of Airbnb’s Phoenix revenue comes from hosts renting units 30 days or more, indicating these are not occasional renters: 85% of operators listed properties for rent more than 30 days per year, accounting for more than $41 million in revenue for Airbnb in Phoenix. 14% of operators listed properties for rent more than half the year (180 days), accounting for more than $9 million in revenue for the company. Multi-unit operators accounting for 14% of hosts in Phoenix, drove 40% of revenue in the metropolitan area – over $17 million last year.
How Airbnb’s data hid the facts in New York City
02/10/2016
On December 1 2015, Airbnb made data available about its business in New York City, with much fanfare. This report shows that the Airbnb data release misled the media and the public.
Airbnb’s data release was presented as “the first time Airbnb has voluntarily shared city data on a wide scale on how its hosts use the online platform”. This report shows that the data was photoshopped: Airbnb ensured it would paint a flattering picture by carrying out a one-time targeted purge of over 1,000 listings in the first three weeks of November. The company then presented November 17 as a typical day in the company’s operations and misrepresented the one-time purge as a historical trend.
The Sharing Economy Checks In: An Analysis of Airbnb in the United States
CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research
02/02/2016
The sharing economy has become a prominent though not well understood economic phenomenon over the past several years. Airbnb is the market leader as it relates to the temporary accommodations industry. CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research compiled select information from STR, Inc. and Airdna, a company that provides data on Airbnb, for hundreds of U.S. markets to assess the relevancy of this sharing platform to the traditional hotel industry.
Airbnb’s presence in key markets throughout the U.S. is growing at a rapid pace, with users spending $2.4 billion on lodging in the U.S. over the past year, according to analysis from CBRE Hotels. Over the study period of October 2014 – September 2015, more than 55 percent of the $2.4 billion generated was captured in only five U.S. cities (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Boston), represents a significant portion of the lodging revenues in these markets.
How Airbnb Short-Term Rentals Exacerbate Los Angeles’s Affordable Housing Crisis: Analysis and Policy Recommendations
02/02/2016
Los Angeles, California, is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. Rents have increased by 7.3% in 2014 alone, and the median renting household already spends 47% of its income on housing. This crisis has added fuel to the contentious debate over Airbnb, a startup technology company that facilitates short-term rentals (STRs) of residential homes to tourists. Whereas Airbnb and its users tout its positive effects on tourism, cultural exchange, and the environment, its critics contend that Airbnb harms neighborhoods, distorts the housing market, undermines labor unions, and exacerbates Los Angeles’s affordable housing crisis. In regulating Airbnb, policymakers seek to curb Airbnb’s impacts on neighborhood character and housing while harnessing the economic activity it brings.
The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Estimating the Impact of Airbnb on the Hotel Industry
01/27/2016
Decentralized peer-to-peer markets, collectively known as the sharing economy, have emerged as alternative suppliers of goods and services traditionally provided by longestablished industries. A central question regards the impact of these sharing economy platforms: will they materialize as viable mainstream alternatives to traditional providers, or will they languish as niche markets? We study the case of Airbnb, specifically analyzing Airbnb’s entry into the short-term accommodation market in Texas and its impact on the incumbent hotel industry.
From Air Mattresses to Unregulated Business: An Analysis of the Other Side of Airbnb
The Penn State University School of Hospitality Management
01/20/2016
As the popularity—and controversy—over short-term rental platforms grows in the public arena, this report takes a closer look at the hosts dominating one of the most trafficked platforms, Airbnb. The company, valued at some $24 billion dollars, has a reported 2 million listings worldwide. In media interviews and public materials, Airbnb suggests that its hosts are largely using the platform to make some additional money on the side. It states that “a typical listing earns $5,110 a year, and is typically shared less than 4 nights per month.”1 But that does not represent the full picture. This report represents the first comprehensive look at the commercial activity being conducted on Airbnb.
By analyzing hundreds of thousands of data points, the report reveals an alarming trend with respect to two overlapping groups of hosts, multiple-unit operators who are renting out two or more units, and full-time operators who are renting their unit(s) 360 or more days per year. These two subsets of operators are generating a substantial amount of Airbnb’s revenue. Hosts who rent fewer than 360 days, but still far more than occasionally (for instance, more than 180 days), also contribute greatly to Airbnb’s bottom line.
Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment
01/06/2016
Online marketplaces increasingly choose to reduce the anonymity of buyers and sellers in order to facilitate trust. We demonstrate that this common market design choice results in an important unintended consequence: racial discrimination.
In a field experiment on Airbnb, we find that requests from guests with distinctively African-American names are roughly 16% less likely to be accepted than identical guests with distinctively White names. The difference persists whether the host is African-American or White, male or female. The difference also persists whether the host shares the property with the guest or not, and whether the property is cheap or expensive. We validate our findings through observational data on hosts’ recent experiences with African-American guests, finding host behavior consistent with some, though not all, hosts discriminating. Finally, we find that discrimination is costly for hosts who indulge in it: hosts who reject African American guests are able to find a replacement guest only 35% of the time. On the whole, our analysis suggests a need for caution: while information can facilitate transactions, it also facilitates discrimination.
Airbnb and Impacts on the New York City Lodging Market and Economy
10/13/2015
This report presents our findings of impact of the operation of Airbnb on the local lodging industry and economy of New York City. We have studied the direct impact of lost lodging revenue over the twelve-month period from September 2014 through August 2015 and have developed a forecast of potential growth in this impact through 2018. We also developed opinions of impact as it relates to the ancillary departments of a hotel, loss to the construction sector, indirect and induced economic impacts, and effects on taxes.
Short-Term Rentals in the City of San Diego: An Economic Impact Analysis
National University System Institute for Policy Research
10/08/2015
This report assesses the economic and fiscal impacts of the short-term vacation and home-sharing industries on the City of San Diego and examines the relationship between the short-term and long-term rental markets in certain San Diego neighborhoods.
Housing & The Airbnb Community in the City of Los Angeles
09/29/2015
For thousands of Angelenos, home sharing is an economic lifeline that makes it possible for long-time residents to pay the bills, make ends meet, and stay in the city they love. As detailed in TABLE 1, more than 80 percent of hosts in the City of Los Angeles share only the home in which they live and 70 percent use part of that money to pay their mortgage or rent. Across Los Angeles, the typical host4 makes approximately $525 each month sharing their home through Airbnb.
Analysis of the impact of short-term rentals on housing
City and County of San Francisco
05/13/2015
The short-term rental market has three key players: the host, the guest, and the rental platform. The host is the property owner, lease holder, or a third party management company who supplies entire apartments, private rooms, or shared rooms. The guests rent out the apartments or rooms, and the rental platform facilitates the exchange between the hosts and guests. Some municipalities, including the City and County of San Francisco, limit the number of days a short-term rental can be rented out and prohibit using residences solely for commercial purposes.
In San Francisco and in other cities, Airbnb is the predominant rental platform in the short-term rental market and generates revenue by taking a fee from both the host and guest for each booking completed (a pay-per-booking model). Other rental platforms such as HomeAway and FlipKey will offer a pay-per-booking option and also a subscription model, which charges hosts for advertising rentals.
This report focuses on Airbnb due to its predominance in the short-term rental market and the availability of public data on its activities. Airbnb originated in 2008. Airbnb has since expanded to over 34,000 cities and 190 countries and has over 1 million listings worldwide.
The Sharing Economy
04/14/2015
Around the world, a new wave of peer-to-peer, access-driven businesses is shaking up established categories. Whether borrowing goods, renting homes, or serving up micro-skills in exchange for access or money, consumers are showing a robust appetite for the sharing-based economy.
Airbnb in the City
New York State Office of the Attorney General
10/16/2014
The rapid rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb have dramatically expanded the use of traditional apartments as transient hotel rooms—sparking a public debate in New York and in communities worldwide about the real-world consequences of this online marketplace.
Where supporters of Airbnb and other rental sites see a catalyst for entrepreneurship, critics see a threat to the safety, affordability, and residential character of local communities. Are the new platforms fueling a black market for unsafe hotels? By bidding up the price of apartments in popular areas, do short-term rentals make metropolitan areas like New York City less affordable? Is the influx of out-of-town visitors upsetting the quiet of longstanding residential neighborhoods?