Short-term rental of residential real estate in selected cities of the world – modeling and implementation of indicators for profitability assessment

Objectives Assessment of the profitability of short-term rentals in selected cities around the world. Material and methods Rental prices came from Airbnb data, and average property prices came from various online sources. A k-means analysis was performed, which revealed groups of cities (clusters). Results It has been shown that the average daily rental income in relation to the average price per m² of apartment space may exceed 7% in selected cities. Cities were grouped into three clusters, they contain objects characterized by similarities in terms of the analyzed features. Conclusions Short-term rental of private apartments has gained popularity in recent years, mainly thanks to platforms such as Airbnb, Booking and Vrbo. This type of rental has become an attractive alternative to hotels, especially among tourists looking for more local and authentic experiences, and in times of pandemic - also some privacy. Renting private properties through the above-mentioned portals offers owners the opportunity to generate additional income, often higher than in the case of long-term rental. The research conducted in the article shows that the availability of premises for rent in cities such as Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Istanbul exceeds 1,000 properties regardless of the price range. In terms of the potential rate of return on rental, calculated as the ratio of the average daily rental price and the average price per m² of real estate, the potentially most profitable cities are: Barcelona, ​​Cape Town and Istanbul (all with a potential return of >7%/ m²).