The Blubber

According to a real-estate expert, declining revenues per listing on Airbnb, the popular platform that allows property owners to rent out their spaces to travelers, could potentially lead to a housing market crash in certain cities, comparable to the subprime crisis of 2008. However, there are some doubts about the accuracy of the data raised by other experts.

Data from AllTheRooms comparing Airbnb revenues per listing in May 2022 and May 2023 shows a drop of almost 50 percent in cities such as Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas. However, alternative sources dispute these numbers.

Economist Jamie Lane, who works as the senior vice president at AirDNA, a company that tracks performance and trends in short-term rentals, argues that the data provided by AllTheRooms is incorrect. Lane suggests that while revenues per listing have decreased for Airbnb in 2023, the decline is slightly above 3 percent rather than 40 percent.

In response to the issue, Airbnb stated to Newsweek that the data is inconsistent with their own records. They claim that more guests are using their platform than ever before, with a 19 percent increase in bookings for accommodations and experiences in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year.

On the other hand, Nick Gerli, the CEO of Reventure Consulting, a company that advises homebuyers and real-estate investors, believes that based on the data from AllTheRooms, the collapse of Airbnb is genuine. Gerli tweeted on Tuesday, sharing the data on revenues per listing, and stated that revenues have declined by nearly 50 percent in cities like Phoenix and Austin. He further suggests that this decline in revenues per Airbnb listing could lead to homeowners who listed their properties on the platform being compelled to sell, potentially causing a housing market downturn similar to that of 2008.