Some clever folk in London have crunched the numbers for 75 cities worldwide and concluded that landlords will recoup their property value faster through Airbnb than traditional renting in every city they looked at except Beijing.
The Australian cities on the list included Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Here’s what they found.
Months to recoup the price of a three-bedroom property:
- Sydney – 315 months through traditional renting; 80 months through Airbnb
- Perth – 286 months through traditional renting; 85 months through Airbnb
- Melbourne – 301 months through traditional renting; 117 through Airbnb
- Brisbane – 262 months through traditional renting; 148 through Airbnb
But before you turf out your traditional tenants and fly your Airbnb flag, take a closer look at whether the numbers really stack up for you.
The analysis was based on the average purchase price of a three-bedroom property and it assumed the property would be rented 80% of the time. This occupancy rate has been criticised by some as too optimistic for short-stay renting.
A University of Melbourne lecturer in property Andy Krause told Your Investment Property magazine this list was misleading.
“It makes it sound like Airbnb is a better investment in all properties in all these cities and that’s simply not true,” he said. “I think that Airbnb certainly has a peak — there’s only so many tourists and only so many that want that experience.”
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