Challenging the Discourse around the Impacts of Airbnb through Suburbs Not Cities: Lessons from Australia and COVID-19

Supporters of short-term rental (STR) platforms state that STRs represent a small fraction the housing market major cities and therefore have little impact on rents. However, there is emerging evidence suggests highly localised impacts. In this article, we use natural experiment pause in tourism caused by COVID-19 pandemic to highlight decrease STR listings markets case study city Hobart, Australia. We find affordability has improved Hobart’s STR-dense suburbs with increased vacancies from underutilised properties. These results provide local when analysed finer scale than whole-of-city approach. The focus helps communities governments build an argument for tight markets.