If you’ve read anything about short-term rentals and New York City you’ve discovered that the Big Apple is probably not the friendliest place (regulatory-wise) to begin your Airbnb foray. However, a recent New York Times article digs deeper into this growing segment of the sharing-economy to show how, for some hosts, it has been profitable enough to replace their income.
“Airbnb helps thousands of New Yorkers get by in an increasingly expensive city,” he said. “Unfortunately, the current law groups responsible New Yorkers, who occasionally share their own home, with illegal hotels that remove permanent housing from the market.” Said Josh Meltzer, the head of New York public policy for Airbnb.
Airbnb, the short-term home rental service that began operations eight years ago and is now valued at $31 billion, estimates that there are 46,000 hosts statewide, with more than 45,000 active listings in New York City alone, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in rental income every year. (Inside Airbnb, an independent data-tracking website, estimates the number of hosts in the city to be about 36,888.)
Click here to read the full story at The New York Times.
Click here to see data on InsideAirbnb.
