3 ms·

Ah, yes, the hedge funds, too. So many evil groups conspiring to ruin your weekend. What you describe is only profitable if lots of people want to travel to th

Ah, yes, the hedge funds, too. So many evil groups conspiring to ruin your weekend. What you describe is only profitable if lots of people want to travel to the destination and they can keep the properties busy (it's a lot of work). What I hear is "I don't like to travel as much as other people so I don't want to be inconvenienced by them, and I'd rather they don't get to travel."

jhrmnn 6y ago
That residential property is increasingly bought as investment by both small and large players and this is one of the factors driving prices up is a fact. See for example Figure 1.3 here [open access] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11674-3_1 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11674-3_...
baq 6y ago
real estate has always been an asset class, nothing evil there. it's just a fact.
foepys 6y ago
Poor families can already not really afford to live in the city where they work as cleaning staff, in retail, as handymen, etc. These people keep the city running, not the AirBnB landlords or hedge funds.
ath92 6y ago
Before Airbnb, your neighbour couldn't just start renting out (a part of) their house to tourists. In many European cities, and I imagine other places too, zoning laws and permits were in place that prevented that from happening. Then Airbnb came along and disrupted the market by rewriting the rules, or rather selectively forgetting about some of them. This has a real impact on the people that live in those cities. Without it, there would still have been plenty of people that wanted to travel to these places, but without part of the housing supply meant for citizens going to tourism, the price of a room would simply go up.
conradev 6y ago
It is true that the Airbnb needs to be in a place people want to travel to. But a lot of people want to travel to a lot of places – almost any city is included in this criteria. It is a lot of work, but not for the property owner if you just hire someone to manage the property. Short term rentals are far more profitable than long term rentals (even though most of it is adjusting for risk, for both vacancy and property damage). It is a serious problem, especially in the current housing market, that people with marginally more access to capital are able to buy investment properties and take priority over people looking to buy their primary residence. Sellers are incentivized to take cash offers instead of financed ones.

jhrmnn 6y ago

That residential property is increasingly bought as investment by both small and large players and this is one of the factors driving prices up is a fact. See for example Figure 1.3 here [open access] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11674-3_1 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11674-3_...

baq 6y ago

real estate has always been an asset class, nothing evil there. it's just a fact.

foepys 6y ago

Poor families can already not really afford to live in the city where they work as cleaning staff, in retail, as handymen, etc. These people keep the city running, not the AirBnB landlords or hedge funds.

ath92 6y ago

Before Airbnb, your neighbour couldn't just start renting out (a part of) their house to tourists. In many European cities, and I imagine other places too, zoning laws and permits were in place that prevented that from happening. Then Airbnb came along and disrupted the market by rewriting the rules, or rather selectively forgetting about some of them. This has a real impact on the people that live in those cities. Without it, there would still have been plenty of people that wanted to travel to these places, but without part of the housing supply meant for citizens going to tourism, the price of a room would simply go up.

conradev 6y ago

It is true that the Airbnb needs to be in a place people want to travel to. But a lot of people want to travel to a lot of places – almost any city is included in this criteria. It is a lot of work, but not for the property owner if you just hire someone to manage the property. Short term rentals are far more profitable than long term rentals (even though most of it is adjusting for risk, for both vacancy and property damage). It is a serious problem, especially in the current housing market, that people with marginally more access to capital are able to buy investment properties and take priority over people looking to buy their primary residence. Sellers are incentivized to take cash offers instead of financed ones.