Airbnb has been active on the Gold Coast since 2010 and has rapidly gained traction in the past three years. The market has seen a 60% increase in the number of listings in the past 12 months from 10,440 to 16,746. This growth has occurred despite councils attempt to regulate the short-term rental industry with an expensive permit.
AirDNA, an independent Airbnb statistics website, states the total number of active properties for rent on the Gold Coast is currently 6,737 with 70% of those being entire home rentals. 50% of the active rentals are managed by multi-listing hosts and 33% of the total active properties were available full time. This shows a strong commercial market is emerging on the Gold Coast due to the potential to earn higher yields for short-term rentals over long-term tenancies.
The majority of the 6,737 active listings are vacant 2-bedroom apartments along the coastline, hosted by both private home owners and onsite managers of holiday rentals. 2-bedroom apartments remain the most prevalent property type listed, followed by 1-bedroom apartments then 3-bedroom homes.
Active rentals have dropped by 2% this quarter and rental demand has dropped by 6%, which is normal for seasonal tourist locations like the Gold Coast and we should start to see things pick up over the next few months towards the summer season.
As of 31 September, the average daily rate achieved for a property listed on Airbnb was $141 with an occupancy rate of 60%*. These figures are well below the Hotel industry at $199 ADR and 72.7% occupancy rate, which shows more visitors to the Gold Coast prefer hotel style accommodation .
*Airbnb recommends that an occupancy rate of 50% be used to calculate potential rents.
Source: Airbnb, AirDNA, CBRE