Airbnb and the housing market before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comparative study of Barcelona and Lisbon.

Abstract Since 2010, Airbnb has had a significant impact on the housing market in all tourist cities where it operates. With a very small investment, Airbnb enables the use of residential flats for short-term rentals, creating a rent increase that ultimately excludes long-term tenants. Using data dr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Garha,Nachatter Singh (author)
Other Authors: Azevedo,Alda Botelho (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0003-25732022000100004
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:scielo:S0003-25732022000100004
Description
Summary:Abstract Since 2010, Airbnb has had a significant impact on the housing market in all tourist cities where it operates. With a very small investment, Airbnb enables the use of residential flats for short-term rentals, creating a rent increase that ultimately excludes long-term tenants. Using data drawn from the Inside Airbnb website, Idealista, and the 2011 Census of Spain and Portugal, this article first estimates the number of commercial listings, multi-hosts, and long-term rentals lost to Airbnb in Barcelona and Lisbon; second, it measures the potential increase in rents created by Airbnb in specific neighbourhoods in both cities; and finally, it examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Airbnb activity in these cities.