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> speculative (AirBnB increases rental property prices for everyone) Far from speculative - it's a rather straightforward result from the basic economic princi

> speculative (AirBnB increases rental property prices for everyone) Far from speculative - it's a rather straightforward result from the basic economic principles at play. And even if you hesitate to draw conclusions based on reasoning from first principles alone (which you should), there have been a few studies which have measured this effect empirically. Keep in mind that the economic impact of hotels (both illegal and legal) on nearby rent has been well studied[0], so unless there is a reason to believe that Airbnb specifically is unique, the default assumption should be that they will have this effect too. It's not a smoking gun, no, but it's far from speculative if both inductive and deductive reasoning support that conclusion. [0] Especially zoning, which is a distinct but very related issue.

arenaninja 12y ago
Purely out of interest, do you have a link for any of these studies? It seems like an obvious economic conclusion, but I'd be interested in seeing to what extent. Personally, no one in my building is subletting, but I did an airbnb search and was surprised by the number of apartments available in my area
aianus 12y ago
I don't think it's fair that renting an apartment for a year is so much cheaper than renting it for one night. AirBnB closes the gap to its natural equilibrium level instead of the artificially high one created by zoning laws and hotel taxes.
- qdog 12y ago
  Renting something for a longer term is usually cheaper because there is less overhead and risk. Renting a single day requires extra overhead in cleaning and advertising plus the risk of not having it rented. My guess would be nightly stays would need to be in the neighborhood of 150% of the monthly price to make it worthwhile, and possibly much higher if there is a low season.
  - aianus 12y ago
    Yes, of course, that's the natural spread that I was talking about. But that natural spread is not as large as the difference between a 12 month lease and a night in a hotel. That's what makes running an AirBnB profitable: undercutting the hotels and capturing some of that spread as income.
- jacalata 12y ago
  What do you think about places that give discounts if you sign a 12 month lease instead of six or one? That's not regulatory or artificial.
- krschultz 12y ago
  From the perspective of a landlord, if I have a good tenant, I'd rather rent for 2 years instead of 1 and will price lower accordingly. Vacancy rate is a key driver on ROI. Note that some commercial leases are as long as 10 years. If the economy crashes and people stop vacationing, you won't be filling many nights in a hotel.
baddox 12y ago
Increasing rental property prices due to market forces is a good thing, because the same market forces should result in more rental properties being constructed. Unless, of course, something is prevent the latter.
- cbhl 12y ago
  Such as the local municipality not approving new construction?
  - baddox 12y ago
    Almost certainly.
- nerfhammer 12y ago
  Lack of demand for rental property construction is assuredly not the problem.
krschultz 12y ago
I agree with you, I think AirBnB is bad for the rental market as a whole. I'm just saying it's hard to prove. I can make the argument but there hasn't been a study and there is an open question of how much it really impacts a market as large as NYC or SF.

arenaninja 12y ago

Purely out of interest, do you have a link for any of these studies? It seems like an obvious economic conclusion, but I'd be interested in seeing to what extent. Personally, no one in my building is subletting, but I did an airbnb search and was surprised by the number of apartments available in my area

aianus 12y ago

I don't think it's fair that renting an apartment for a year is so much cheaper than renting it for one night. AirBnB closes the gap to its natural equilibrium level instead of the artificially high one created by zoning laws and hotel taxes.

qdog 12y ago
Renting something for a longer term is usually cheaper because there is less overhead and risk. Renting a single day requires extra overhead in cleaning and advertising plus the risk of not having it rented. My guess would be nightly stays would need to be in the neighborhood of 150% of the monthly price to make it worthwhile, and possibly much higher if there is a low season.
- aianus 12y ago
  Yes, of course, that's the natural spread that I was talking about. But that natural spread is not as large as the difference between a 12 month lease and a night in a hotel. That's what makes running an AirBnB profitable: undercutting the hotels and capturing some of that spread as income.
jacalata 12y ago
What do you think about places that give discounts if you sign a 12 month lease instead of six or one? That's not regulatory or artificial.
krschultz 12y ago
From the perspective of a landlord, if I have a good tenant, I'd rather rent for 2 years instead of 1 and will price lower accordingly. Vacancy rate is a key driver on ROI. Note that some commercial leases are as long as 10 years. If the economy crashes and people stop vacationing, you won't be filling many nights in a hotel.

baddox 12y ago

Increasing rental property prices due to market forces is a good thing, because the same market forces should result in more rental properties being constructed. Unless, of course, something is prevent the latter.

cbhl 12y ago
Such as the local municipality not approving new construction?
- baddox 12y ago
  Almost certainly.
nerfhammer 12y ago
Lack of demand for rental property construction is assuredly not the problem.

krschultz 12y ago

I agree with you, I think AirBnB is bad for the rental market as a whole. I'm just saying it's hard to prove. I can make the argument but there hasn't been a study and there is an open question of how much it really impacts a market as large as NYC or SF.