Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2016

RENTING To Airbnb or not to Airbnb That is the question BY MARLON SHEVELEW T he meteoric rise of Airbnb — the shortterm letting app launched in a San Francisco apartment a mere seven years ago — is, without question, shaking up the entire residential property letting industry. From humble beginnings, the company has, in a startlingly short period of time, become a global behemoth with a market valuation of $25 billion — more than three times that of the 50-year-old Hyatt Hotels chain. Initially, the online portal catered almost exclusively to tourists and business travellers seeking short-term rentals, however of late Airbnb’s market has experienced a significant surge in the number of local property-owners and tenants utilising the online booking service for medium- to longer-term rentals. A further natural by-product of this growing paradigm shift is an increase in the amount of pop-up rental agents who manage only Airbnb properties on a full-time basis. 24 OCTOBER 2016 SA Real Estate Investor The statistics outlining the trend are telling — according to Airbnb, there has been a 190% growth in the number of local South African hosts signing up with the site in the past 12 months, bringing our country’s total listings to an impressive 22 000. Remarkably, half of these nationwide listings are in Cape Town alone, placing the Mother City in a noteworthy 21st position on the list of Airbnb cities world-wide. During the same period, 134,000 inbound international guests rented properties through the website, representing an extraordinary 250% growth from the previous year. Lastly, one particularly significant number stands out to reveal the true extent by which the playing field is changing: Between 2015 and 2016 alone, almost 100,000 South Africans used Airbnb domestically. Naturally, property owners and agents alike will be tempted to jump on this now-rampant bandwagon. However, before doing so, it is vital that certain key elements are borne in www.reimag.co.za

Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2016 | Page 26