Vacation rental occupancy, length of stay and ADR are reaching new heights, culminating in the highest revenue potential (and rental arbitrage) for short-term rentals yet. With the attraction so high, supply is growing steadily once again. But what is this new supply? Who are the new hosts joining the party? For existing short-term rental property managers, this information is important, as understanding competition is will play into strategy. So, amid the growing vacation rental supply: who are the new STR hosts?
Growing vacation rental supply
Short-term rental revenue potential and arbitrage are at their highest yet. Why? Whilst steadily returning to pre-pandemic levels, averaged to the end of Q2, global average length of stay has been 10% higher in 2022 than over the same period in 2019. Combined with the 24% increase in global ADR, that puts average trip accommodation fare for 1Q & 2Q22 at $624, 36% higher than the first 2 quarters of 2019 ($459). On top of that, occupancy is exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
With the draw greater than ever, more vacation rental listings are springing up than ever before. Don’t take our word for it – first, let’s check the movement we’re seeing currently in vacation rental supply across the globe.
Looking at the beginning of 2022, the uptick is plain to see, particularly in Europe. So, with that in plain data, the question is, what does this new supply look like?
How significant are new listings?
We can see from our first chart that listings new to Airbnb in 2022 make up 22% of listings. That's nearly a quarter of all listings on Airbnb, such is the turnover. Contrastingly, courtesy of the right-hand donut, we can see that these same listings only account for 11% of reservations made this year. As expected, newer listings with fewer stays, reviews and ratings command less demand and therefore fewer reservations. However, 11% of Airbnb's bookings in 2022 is not to be sniffed at. New listings still represent a very significant proportion of consumer choice - and competition for your occupancy.
Who are the new STR hosts & their listings?
The below chart describes these new listings, illustrating how many listings their hosts already have under management.
As you can see, brand new listings created this year consistently belong to larger hosts. In fact, the average new listing host size in the US this year is 299 - just the 346% increase over 2018 then!
The proportion of professional vacation rental listings is still growing
So, how does the evolution of listings and trips by owner size look? We have considered those hosts with over 5 listings to be professionals.
Looking at the monthly evolution of Airbnb hosts divided into owner size groupings allows us to gauge how large the average host is through time, and how professionalized overall inventory is becoming.
In line with our average new listing host size findings, here we can see that listings are increasingly managed by professional property managers, with an increase from 28% to 39% since the beginning of 2018.
Why does this matter to you, the professional vacation rental property manager?
Who are the new STR hosts? The answer is largely professionals! As professional listings increase, competition grows and the difficulty to secure trips grows with it.
As consumer choice grows, the opportunity to differentiate yourself as the best choice narrows. That's where data comes in. Data positions you to set your listings up with pinpoint accuracy, finding exactly your niche in terms of price point and also which are the key things to emphasize in your listing.
Who are the new STR hosts? Professional! - set yourself apart
Why not start the journey today? Book a call with our experts to explore the possibilities with data in your market - how can data reporting boost your revenue?