Post by High Priestess on Jan 18, 2016 15:24:59 GMT
THis article anaylzes Airbnb listings in Melbourne AU
www.theage.com.au/victoria/airbnbs-reach-extends-from-spare-rooms-to-empty-multiroom-properties-report-reveals-20160114-gm5roz.html
Nearly half the listings on Airbnb in Melbourne are not for spare rooms in someone's home but for entire houses or apartments that are never lived in, according to new data provided by Inside Airbnb, an independent website based in New York dedicated to transparency about the online booking site.
Figures from Inside Airbnb show that out of 8663 listings in greater Melbourne, about 3600 were for entire properties that were available for booking at least 90 days every year, suggesting no one ever lives there.
And while 70 per cent of Melbourne's 6900 hosts list just one room or property, the remaining 30 per cent have multiple listings. And nearly 300 hosts had more than three listings, according to Fairfax Media's analysis of the data.
The multi-listing moguls were mostly confined to the CBD, South Bank, and the South Yarra end of Chapel Street. In Melbourne's CBD, more than half of the 1068 flats available for most of the year - 611 - belonged to hosts with more than one property.
Many of the 300 moguls were actually professional, short-stay businesses such as Corporate Keys, Luxico, Espresso Apartments, Stay with Style, and Boutique Stays.
A host called Alex, Ellie + Linton turned out to be a small businesses called Beyond a Room that manages Airbnb properties for landlords.
Company founder Linton Wood said the company did not own any of the properties. "We manage them," Mr Wood told Fairfax Media. "Our business is to fill the niche of a short-term real estate agent".
They used personal names as their host profile to stay "in line with the Airbnb brand of connecting people with people rather than people with businesses", he added.
Mr Wood used to be a photographer for Airbnb and found homeowners asking about property managers. For 15% of the rental fee, Beyond a Room meets guests, makes them sign forms promising to abide by body corporate rules, and cleans the property after the stay.
Several individuals who operate multiple listings declined to be interviewed, including: Ian, who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, and has 16 listings clustered around Spencer Street and Flagstaff Gardens; Jonn, who has 13 listings including rooms within houses, mostly around RMIT; and Eden, whose team speaks Chinese and Korean and operate 13 apartments close to Southern Cross Station.
The most listings belong to a man called Bill, who also declined to be interviewed. Through Airbnb he offers 80 lockable rooms in houses in Brunswick, Carlton and South Yarra. Photos show commercial-sized fridges against lounge-room walls and kitchen tools for multiple residents.
Businesses such as this allow landlords to let investment properties to short-stay visitors rather than long-term renters, potentially doubling their rental income from the Melbourne average of about $400 per week to about $960 per week. However, Inside Airbnb also reveals that CBD apartments were only booked through Airbnb 30 per cent of the time.
www.theage.com.au/victoria/airbnbs-reach-extends-from-spare-rooms-to-empty-multiroom-properties-report-reveals-20160114-gm5roz.html
Nearly half the listings on Airbnb in Melbourne are not for spare rooms in someone's home but for entire houses or apartments that are never lived in, according to new data provided by Inside Airbnb, an independent website based in New York dedicated to transparency about the online booking site.
Figures from Inside Airbnb show that out of 8663 listings in greater Melbourne, about 3600 were for entire properties that were available for booking at least 90 days every year, suggesting no one ever lives there.
And while 70 per cent of Melbourne's 6900 hosts list just one room or property, the remaining 30 per cent have multiple listings. And nearly 300 hosts had more than three listings, according to Fairfax Media's analysis of the data.
The multi-listing moguls were mostly confined to the CBD, South Bank, and the South Yarra end of Chapel Street. In Melbourne's CBD, more than half of the 1068 flats available for most of the year - 611 - belonged to hosts with more than one property.
Many of the 300 moguls were actually professional, short-stay businesses such as Corporate Keys, Luxico, Espresso Apartments, Stay with Style, and Boutique Stays.
A host called Alex, Ellie + Linton turned out to be a small businesses called Beyond a Room that manages Airbnb properties for landlords.
Company founder Linton Wood said the company did not own any of the properties. "We manage them," Mr Wood told Fairfax Media. "Our business is to fill the niche of a short-term real estate agent".
They used personal names as their host profile to stay "in line with the Airbnb brand of connecting people with people rather than people with businesses", he added.
Mr Wood used to be a photographer for Airbnb and found homeowners asking about property managers. For 15% of the rental fee, Beyond a Room meets guests, makes them sign forms promising to abide by body corporate rules, and cleans the property after the stay.
Several individuals who operate multiple listings declined to be interviewed, including: Ian, who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, and has 16 listings clustered around Spencer Street and Flagstaff Gardens; Jonn, who has 13 listings including rooms within houses, mostly around RMIT; and Eden, whose team speaks Chinese and Korean and operate 13 apartments close to Southern Cross Station.
The most listings belong to a man called Bill, who also declined to be interviewed. Through Airbnb he offers 80 lockable rooms in houses in Brunswick, Carlton and South Yarra. Photos show commercial-sized fridges against lounge-room walls and kitchen tools for multiple residents.
Businesses such as this allow landlords to let investment properties to short-stay visitors rather than long-term renters, potentially doubling their rental income from the Melbourne average of about $400 per week to about $960 per week. However, Inside Airbnb also reveals that CBD apartments were only booked through Airbnb 30 per cent of the time.