Airbnb in the sky: the politics and economy of condominium short-term rentals

Keywords: short-term rentals, housing, condominiums, spatial analysis, big data
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 71

Abstract

Online short-term rental (STR) platforms such as Airbnb have transformed housing markets and urban social relations in cities around the world. It is well known—but little investigated—that condominium towers are a disproportionate source of STRs. This paper investigates the distinctive and consequential relationship between STRs and condominium towers in the following registers: 1) Capital—How have the financial incentives to operate STRs changed the position of condominiums in the housing market? 2) Governance—Condominium boards serve as a “fourth tier” of government, so what happens when they are called upon to regulate STRs in the face of both resident pressure to ban STRs and enormous financial incentives for hosts to operate them? 3) Covid—The pandemic caused an unprecedented flight of STRs back to the long-term market, and this flight was concentrated in condominium units. How has the pandemic reconfigured housing relations in these condominiums? The paper answers these questions using a unique comparative methodology combining key-informant interviews and big-data spatial analysis across Canada’s largest three cities.