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by skystarman 1797 days ago
The effect of Airbnb on the price of housing is pretty small, maybe a few percentage increase.

Not saying that isn't worth doing something about but there it certainly wouldn't be at the top of my list. End onerous and restrictive zoning and increase housing supply should be the first move.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/garybarker/2020/02/21/the-airbn...
3 comments
cycomanic 1797 days ago
The article you cite is not supporting your view. In fact it lists many cases where Airbnb (or short term leases in general) have a significant effect on both sales and rental property supply and is pushing up prices as a result.
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skystarman 1797 days ago
I never said there was no effect, in fact I said the opposite.

The effect is relatively small (a few percentage points) compared to other factors, which bears out through empirical studies which are cited.

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ipnon 1797 days ago
A few percentage increase in a city of 8 million results in thousands of uprooted lives at the margin. I used Bed Stuy as an example because it seems to me a marginalized community. It is surrounded by poorer and richer neighborhoods that do not have the same housing problem I have described. In some sense Bed Stuy is the "frontline" where the processes I describe converge.

Much like in war, the people on the "frontline" experience direct disturbance to their way of life, while those who live far away from the "frontline" have their lives go on as normal even if they are aware of the problems nearby.

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dorchadas 1797 days ago
The pandemic literally caused housing supply in Dublin Ireland to double due to people fleeing the short-term rental market when tourism dried up. We're talking from ~1600 listings to 3000+. Even if it doesn't affect cost, which is ludicrous given those numbers, it's certainly affecting the supply at a huge rate.
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skystarman 1797 days ago
You're attributing the surge in rental supply in a major city during the pandemic entirely to Airbnb?

This is really lazy, unserious analysis.

Housing supply in cities across the entire western world shrank because people were working remotely and fleeing urban centers which were shut down and huge centers of spread.

So no. Not just Airbnb.

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dorchadas 1797 days ago
No, it was a good chunk of AirBnB: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/world/europe/airbnb-dubli...
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