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What are the demographics of Airbnb hosts?
Of the 4 million Airbnb listings, 20% belong to so-called empire owners. This means that approximately 800,000 properties listed on Airbnb belong to multiple-property owners. A deep dive of my findings are below
Findings
Although the percentage of empire owners varies from city to city, according to LearnAirbnb Consultants, the overall percentage of hosts that own more than one property is 20%. DMR Business Statistics indicates there are 4 million properties worldwide listed on Airbnb. This means that we can get the approximate number of properties that belong to empire owners by multiplying 4,000,000 by 0.20 to get 800,000. In addition, DMR Business Statistics shows that there are currently 640,000 hosts on Airbnb, which means that by multiplying 640,000 by 0.20, we can estimate that there are 128,000 hosts that have multiple listings on Airbnb.
In the United States, there are 660,000 Airbnb listings. By applying the same 20% to this number, (although individual city statistics show that 20% might be high for the U.S.), we can determine that there are about 132,000 empire-owned properties in the United States that are listed on the Airbnb website (660,000 x 0.20). Of this number, just 75 U.S. owners are "grossing over $1 million in rental income a year." This equates to one out of every 3,850 U.S. owners who are earning $1 million or more from renting properties on Airbnb.
The percentage of empire owners does vary from city to city. I was able to find data for three cities that show the differences in owner demographics. You will see that in the cities that have data available, the United States, the percent of listings that belong to empire hosts is significantly than the overall 20%, but in London, it is 4% higher.
LONDON
Based on the findings of AirDNA, an Airbnb data and analytics website, "24% of Airbnb hosts in London have multiple listings across the city." As of November 2017, there were 57,475 Airbnb listings in London, which means that approximately 13,794 properties belong to empire owners (57,475 x 0.24). One particular owner has 881 properties in London alone, which means he "owns 1.5% of the city's Airbnb market." In the past 12 months, this owner earned $15.6 million from his London properties. As Business Insider observed, it would be nearly impossible for one owner to manage nearly 900 properties on his own. Therefore, Airbnb owners are setting up management companies to run their multiple properties. This shows that what began as a way for people to make extra money renting out rooms or unused homes while families were away on vacation has become a booming business for some owners.
NEW YORK
In New York, an owner is considered an "empire" owner if he owns more than two properties. A city report by the New York Attorney General's office showed that 94% of Airbnb hosts in New York own one or two properties. The remaining 6% own between three and 272 properties. Of the 73,303 listings in New York on Airbnb, approximately 4,400 listings (73,303 x 0.06%) belong to empire owners (which are defined as owning three or more Airbnb properties in New York). However, that 6% or 1,406 hosts account for 36% of reservations and 37% of revenue. The remaining 94% or 24,057 hosts account for the 64% of reservations and 63% of revenue. What's more is that 10 commercial owners that have nine or more properties in New York City and account for 801 total Airbnb listings. The top commercial owner has 272 properties and represents 2% of all New York host revenue for private stays.
LOS ANGELES
This city breaks down Airbnb demographics further than other cities, as it shows the percentage of owners who are renting out whole homes versus a single room. The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy or LAANE conducted a study that found that 42% of Airbnb owners in Los Angeles rent out a single whole home property. Another 52% of Los Angeles hosts are renting out a single room. The remaining 6% of hosts are considered "leasing companies" and own two or more properties. There are 45,001 listings in Los Angeles, which means that 2,700 listings belong to empire owners (45,001 x 0.06) As with New York, the 6% of owners are responsible for a disproportionate amount of Airbnb revenue at 35%.
ADDITIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS
In the United States, a recent CBRE report found that Airbnb is no longer a "home-sharing" company, but instead has evolved into a short-term rental company for businesses, which in many cities is illegal. For instance, in New York, "72% of unique units rented through Airbnb are in violation of the MDL or NYC Administrative code." In Los Angeles, up to 64% of Airbnb rentals could be illegal as well. The notion that Airbnb is becoming more of a business is further backed up by the study's finding that 16.9% of hosts say they are using Airbnb listings to build their wealth and another 15.4% say their Airbnb listings are their main source of income. By adding these two percentages together, we can see that 32.3% of all hosts view Airbnb rentals as a way to make money, or in other words, as a business.