The industry is growing up - and that's good news for everyone involved. Whichever way cities go, it's clear that the Wild West days of Airbnbs are swiftly drawing to a close. That leaves local governments with a decision to make: Accept the boom-and-bust cycle that can come as a result of letting short-term rentals run wild, or craft rules to keep hosts happy and bring peace of mind to residents who fear their neighborhoods could one day be overrun by mini-hotels. Regardless of their approach, most cities can't afford to lose the tourism dollars that flow from short-term rentals. Other places have cracked down and capped the number of permits, pacifying concerned citizens and preserving the profits of existing Airbnb owners. Some cities have allowed vacation-rental listings to multiply virtually unchecked, setting the stage for an oversupply that has come back to bite investors. Rather than a collapse of the industry, the increasingly bifurcated state of the market - a bust for some, a boom for others - is a clear sign that we have hit a turning point in the long-running battle over short-term rentals. The number of nights booked at US short-term rentals reached a record high in 2022, as did total revenue, according to AirDNA, which tracks properties listed on the vacation-rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo.

It often indicates a user profile.īut the hand-wringing over the idea of a downturn ignores a conflicting, but undeniable, reality: The short-term-rental business is bigger than ever, and some operators are thriving like never before.

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