New Report Optimistic on Spotahome, Nestpick and HousingAnywhere

Specialized short term rentals data company Transparent has released a new report on the mid-term rental market in collaboration with Spotahome, Nestpick, and HousingAnywhere. Despite the fact that this sector was among the worst hit by the pandemic, the report is sanguine about the future of mid-term rentals, claiming that:

• Increased work mobility will see a greater number of people looking to move around and work from new places.

• Workers may choose to move temporarily to avoid ad-hoc localized lockdown measures.

• There is a shift in demand from short term Airbnb style rentals to slightly longer-term rentals.

The report brings together data from three rival companies in the space and arrives at a conclusion that is perhaps counterintuitive given the suspension of international study abroad programs and paralyzation of international travel. Some interesting points from the report include:

• Inventory of mid-term rentals has increased exponentially over the past few years (from 2017 to 2018 it is estimated to have increased by 348% and then by 81% from 2018 to 2019).

• Users are booking their stays further in advance due to Covid-19. The average time between booking and check-in for April 2020 was over 100 days compared to an average of 40 days in January.

• The average length of stay has gone up from 4 months to 5 months around the world due to the effects of Covid-19.

• Short term rental sites saw a relative traffic loss of 63% compared to only 38% for mid-term rental sites.

Although the fact that the report was produced in collaboration with Spotahome, HousingAnywhere and Nestpick means that any conclusions on the long-term viability of mid-term rentals should be taken with a pinch of salt, any good news in the mid-term rental market now is hard to come by and we hope the optimism in the report proves well-founded.