5 ms·

What about those of us who do not wish to take in any of this and still pay the consequences? In Madrid rent is up a staggering 17% YoY, mostly due to AirBnB.

What about those of us who do not wish to take in any of this and still pay the consequences? In Madrid rent is up a staggering 17% YoY, mostly due to AirBnB. That affects anyone looking for an apartment and I’m sure if renters were to pick between having AirBnB available for their travels - which is eye-wateringly expensive anyway! - or cheaper rent, they will invariably pick the latter.

razorbladeknife 8y ago
Some party will always be at loss and market will decide which one. Just stop traveling to Madrid after all not everyone is entitled to invade life of locals and make their place crowded.
Pristina 8y ago
You are not entitled to live in a particular city at a particular price. If a property owner can make 17% more, why should they make 17% less so YOU are more convenieced?
xondono 8y ago
Madrid, like Barcelona, has rising rent prices but blaiming them on AirBnB like some politicians have is very disingenuous. AirBnB and similar players have a small percentage of the rent stock. They can only shift prices on the margin. If you want the real culprits, Spain has a broken rental law that increases risks both for renters and lenders, and both cities have strict construction limiting codes (i.e. almost fixed supply).
- harperlee 8y ago
  This 100%. In addition, if you want to look into new factors, the huge amounts of foreign investments that came into Madrid have been dedicated to normal rentals, or to hoarding empty flats; not to short term rentals.
  - xondono 8y ago
    Foreign or national, the fact is that Spain suffered a housing bubble and it’s burst, but all of the legal and political conditions that gave rise to the bubble are still there. Add the negative interest rates of the BCE, and you have found a nice way to make a killing...
jeffbax 8y ago
Technology is… disruptive. Not to be cliche. I don't think that "mostly due to AirBnB" is likely fair. AirBNB is around at the same time that the economies of scale has strongly tilted in favor of cities, who have restricted housing supply for years. In other words, clustering of specialties. Tech in SF, finance in NYC/London etc where the runaway effect is like businesses clustering b/c of talent, and talent flooding to the place, and the cycle continues. They make an easy scapegoat for politicians other bad policies because timing goes along, but the rent is likely due to broader population crunch that other cities (including Boston where I live) are facing. That is not to say we don't need to ever craft policy, maybe some kind of restriction on rental terms makes sense. Boston just made it tougher to do short term rentals -- but at the end of the day the real problem is that Boston restricted housing supply for years with bad zoning and burdensome regulation. Now a new technology hit that democratized what people can do with their property, and it's causing some friction, but I don't think it's fair to point all the blame there. For instance, in Boston AirBNB is < 3% of stock last I checked… which probably has an impact when supply is so constrained but it should have never gotten to this point to begin with. We need to fix supply problems, not ban a new technology that clearly resonates with consumers around the globe.

razorbladeknife 8y ago

Some party will always be at loss and market will decide which one. Just stop traveling to Madrid after all not everyone is entitled to invade life of locals and make their place crowded.

Pristina 8y ago

You are not entitled to live in a particular city at a particular price. If a property owner can make 17% more, why should they make 17% less so YOU are more convenieced?

xondono 8y ago

Madrid, like Barcelona, has rising rent prices but blaiming them on AirBnB like some politicians have is very disingenuous. AirBnB and similar players have a small percentage of the rent stock. They can only shift prices on the margin. If you want the real culprits, Spain has a broken rental law that increases risks both for renters and lenders, and both cities have strict construction limiting codes (i.e. almost fixed supply).

harperlee 8y ago
This 100%. In addition, if you want to look into new factors, the huge amounts of foreign investments that came into Madrid have been dedicated to normal rentals, or to hoarding empty flats; not to short term rentals.
- xondono 8y ago
  Foreign or national, the fact is that Spain suffered a housing bubble and it’s burst, but all of the legal and political conditions that gave rise to the bubble are still there. Add the negative interest rates of the BCE, and you have found a nice way to make a killing...

jeffbax 8y ago

Technology is… disruptive. Not to be cliche. I don't think that "mostly due to AirBnB" is likely fair. AirBNB is around at the same time that the economies of scale has strongly tilted in favor of cities, who have restricted housing supply for years. In other words, clustering of specialties. Tech in SF, finance in NYC/London etc where the runaway effect is like businesses clustering b/c of talent, and talent flooding to the place, and the cycle continues. They make an easy scapegoat for politicians other bad policies because timing goes along, but the rent is likely due to broader population crunch that other cities (including Boston where I live) are facing. That is not to say we don't need to ever craft policy, maybe some kind of restriction on rental terms makes sense. Boston just made it tougher to do short term rentals -- but at the end of the day the real problem is that Boston restricted housing supply for years with bad zoning and burdensome regulation. Now a new technology hit that democratized what people can do with their property, and it's causing some friction, but I don't think it's fair to point all the blame there. For instance, in Boston AirBNB is < 3% of stock last I checked… which probably has an impact when supply is so constrained but it should have never gotten to this point to begin with. We need to fix supply problems, not ban a new technology that clearly resonates with consumers around the globe.