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Airbnb's impact on cities

theguardian.com

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Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#21

Post by yummyfajitas »

trusche wrote: post #7

Here in Dublin, Ireland, rents are exploding, mostly because of a severe shortage in apartments, and it's a fair question to ask if AirBnB is partially to blame. From [1]: > The average rental value of a two-bed apartment in the city centre at €2,000 per month, less a management fee, would equate to the apartment being occupied for just 120 nights of the year through Airbnb. > Investors have confirmed that if correct…

The obvious solution to a severe shortage in apartments is to build more. Why doesn't Ireland do this?

Pigeonhole principle: if K people want to be in Ireland at any one time, and there are N < K apartments, K - N people will have a problem. All the folks criticizing AirBnB want to do is make sure they aren't the ones who face the problem.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#22

Post by apsec112 »

trusche wrote: post #7

Here in Dublin, Ireland, rents are exploding, mostly because of a severe shortage in apartments, and it's a fair question to ask if AirBnB is partially to blame. From [1]: > The average rental value of a two-bed apartment in the city centre at €2,000 per month, less a management fee, would equate to the apartment being occupied for just 120 nights of the year through Airbnb. > Investors have confirmed that if correct…

I can't speak to Ireland, but here in the US, there's an extremely strong relationship between expensive apartments and a lack of new construction. Here's the graph:

http://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/asking.price...

How difficult is it to build new housing in Dublin? Does the city allow new apartment buildings, or are most areas single family, detached residences only?

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#23

Post by EugeneOZ »

philipDS wrote: post #19
EugeneOZ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Catalonia is not only Barcelona. In Barcelona tourism is about third of city's income, so protests like this are ridiculous. Noisy tourists are usually in hotels/hostels. And I have to say locals sometimes are more noisy than tourists.

I've been living in Barcelona on/off since 2013. I don't have a problem with the tourists. I do have a problem with drunk tourists who pee and shout in the streets at night. Very disrespectful. I completely understand the protests.. Tourists are a real pain in Barcelona, especially in El Born/Raval/around La Rambla.

But when dogs pee on every street every day and night - it's ok :) As for tourist, dogs urine is the biggest disadvantage of this awesome city.

I don't like drunk tourists either but if "tourists is a pain" for Barcelona - I will visit other cities, despite my huge love to Barcelona.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#24

Post by yummyfajitas »

Bombthecat wrote: post #9

The bigger question is, why should I create new houses and apartments when I just can raise the rent? Right, no one would and no one will. Without the state intervening we will have a lot of new york cities around the globe.

If your theory was right, then developers shouldn't be desperately begging for permission to build while local NIMBYs beat them back at every turn.

Your theory doesn't seem to match reality.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#25

Post by personlurking »

It's not only Airbnb in Europe, but also Erasmus (twice a year they make finding housing very difficult), Uniplaces (like Airbnb but for EU students), local classifieds sites (which now just double as Airbnb and Uniplaces listings) and being known as an affordable city (like here, in Lisbon, which is being called "the new Berlin" as well as the new "startup capital city").

Over the past 3 years, rental prices here have increased 30%, pushing locals out of the city center. A quick look on Airbnb for Lisbon, one sees the average monthly price at around 700 euro (for a room) while some listings go well above 1,000 euro. Three years ago, the norm for a room - no matter how you found it - was 180 to 220 euro per month, now the minimum is 300 and increasing. People are mad, and rightly so since minimum wage here is 530 euro.

If anyone wishes to see all the stats well laid out, this article below (in Portuguese) has been circulating locally. I suggest running it through an online translator. It's titled "Who is going to be able to live in Lisbon?" http://www.buala.org/pt/cidade/quem-vai-poder-morar-em-lisbo...?

One of the images from the article is this (http://i.imgur.com/FFDVm0M.jpg) showing local Airbnb saturation, where 75% of listings are entire homes/apts. Airbnb's regional head says in 2015 there were 12K homes listed in the Greater Lisbon area, a 60% jump from 2014 numbers. We're a small city but data shows there are 174 hostels and 184 hotels here, with many more in the pipeline.

It's out of hand and the govt hasn't done much of anything to stop it. By the way, that local listing at over 1K euro per month? It had lots of reviews, meaning there have been plenty of takers.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#26

Post by hyperbovine »

joelrunyon wrote: post #4

I'm staying longer term in BCN for a month and a half and accidentally ended up at an outdoor concert last night before realizing that it was protesting tourists. "Tourism kills the city" was the slogan on the signs around the area. In 2 weeks, I've seen at least 2 demonstrations like this and it seems to be picking up from previous years that I've been here. Things are a little more crowded and I feel like every day…

Take it with a grain of salt: the Catalans will find any excuse to protest. I've lived all over the world and nothing even comes close to the number of street demonstrations I witnessed during my time in Barcelona.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#27

Post by matthewmacleod »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #21
trusche wrote: post #7

Here in Dublin, Ireland, rents are exploding, mostly because of a severe shortage in apartments, and it's a fair question to ask if AirBnB is partially to blame. From [1]: > The average rental value of a two-bed apartment in the city centre at €2,000 per month, less a management fee, would equate to the apartment being occupied for just 120 nights of the year through Airbnb. > Investors have confirmed that if correct…

The obvious solution to a severe shortage in apartments is to build more. Why doesn't Ireland do this? Pigeonhole principle: if K people want to be in Ireland at any one time, and there are N < K apartments, K - N people will have a problem. All the folks criticizing AirBnB want to do is make sure they aren't the ones who face the problem.

Not quite - Airbnb shifts demand from traditional tourist accommodation like hotels and guest houses into standard domestic units.

I'm not arguing that this is necessarily bad, but it's really interesting to look at the reasons why this is happening and the negative effects it can have. Increasing domestic prices because of underutilisation is one.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#28

Post by hyperbovine »

philipDS wrote: post #19
EugeneOZ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Catalonia is not only Barcelona. In Barcelona tourism is about third of city's income, so protests like this are ridiculous. Noisy tourists are usually in hotels/hostels. And I have to say locals sometimes are more noisy than tourists.

I've been living in Barcelona on/off since 2013. I don't have a problem with the tourists. I do have a problem with drunk tourists who pee and shout in the streets at night. Very disrespectful. I completely understand the protests.. Tourists are a real pain in Barcelona, especially in El Born/Raval/around La Rambla.

Brexit is going to do wonders for la rambla.

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#29

Post by matthewmacleod »

EugeneOZ wrote: post #23
philipDS wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been living in Barcelona on/off since 2013. I don't have a problem with the tourists. I do have a problem with drunk tourists who pee and shout in the streets at night. Very disrespectful. I completely understand the protests.. Tourists are a real pain in Barcelona, especially in El Born/Raval/around La Rambla.

But when dogs pee on every street every day and night - it's ok :) As for tourist, dogs urine is the biggest disadvantage of this awesome city. I don't like drunk tourists either but if "tourists is a pain" for Barcelona - I will visit other cities, despite my huge love to Barcelona.

I don't think the urine itself is the problem so much as the loutishness and disrespect.

If oh are visiting someone's country, be respectful and polite. That usually includes not peeing on things :)

Re: Airbnb's impact on cities

#30

Post by forrestthewoods »

Answer? Probably not. Especially if you don't provide housing stock numbers.

The last AirBnB complaint I read was in Seattle which had a whopping 1000 units on the market. Which is jack shit.

If you want top argue that AirBnB is a problem then you have to list the number of houses, apartments, hotel rooms, and AirBnB units. I'm not convinced it's s talk problem in any city in the world.

Now regulations that inhibit new construction? That's an issues in more than a few places!

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