Significantly fewer Reykjavík apartments are registered on Airbnb, according to data from the City of Reykjavík. At the end of February 3,852 apartments in the municipality of Reykjavík were registered on Airbnb. At the end of August the number had fallen to 2,737, a drop of 29%. The number of apartments registered on Airbnb dropped steadily over summer.
The drop appears to have been concentrated in neighborhoods further from the city center. In February 30.9% of all Airbnb rentals in Reykjavík were in the city center. Currently this figure is 36.2%.
A factor in the housig crisis in Reykjavík
Only a fraction of all Airbnb apartments are registered with the authorities, but the city maintains a constant monitoring of the popular vacation rental site to track the distribution and quantity of tourist rentals in the city. The monitoring is part of an effort by the city to limit the number of apartments that are taken from the long-term rental market, thus deepening the current housing shortage in the city. Shortage of rental properties and soaring rents in Reykjavík are among the most pressing social and economic issues facing low income people in the capital region.
According to the most recent analysis the Airbnb boom is responsible for 15% of the increase in real estate prices in Reykjavík in recent years.
Read more: Airbnb nation: 10% of Icelandic apartments listed on Airbnb: A major cause of rising home prices
A spokesman for the city told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that it is difficult to assess the impact of the recent drop in Airbnb listings on the rental market. Many apartments are rented for short periods of time by their occupants who might otherwise have left the apartment empty while they are away, for example in school or working. In other cases people rent out a spare room. Currently people are allowed to rent out apartments for 90 days each year without registering them as guesthouses.
Significantly fewer Reykjavík apartments are registered on Airbnb, according to data from the City of Reykjavík. At the end of February 3,852 apartments in the municipality of Reykjavík were registered on Airbnb. At the end of August the number had fallen to 2,737, a drop of 29%. The number of apartments registered on Airbnb dropped steadily over summer.
The drop appears to have been concentrated in neighborhoods further from the city center. In February 30.9% of all Airbnb rentals in Reykjavík were in the city center. Currently this figure is 36.2%.
A factor in the housig crisis in Reykjavík
Only a fraction of all Airbnb apartments are registered with the authorities, but the city maintains a constant monitoring of the popular vacation rental site to track the distribution and quantity of tourist rentals in the city. The monitoring is part of an effort by the city to limit the number of apartments that are taken from the long-term rental market, thus deepening the current housing shortage in the city. Shortage of rental properties and soaring rents in Reykjavík are among the most pressing social and economic issues facing low income people in the capital region.
According to the most recent analysis the Airbnb boom is responsible for 15% of the increase in real estate prices in Reykjavík in recent years.
Read more: Airbnb nation: 10% of Icelandic apartments listed on Airbnb: A major cause of rising home prices
A spokesman for the city told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that it is difficult to assess the impact of the recent drop in Airbnb listings on the rental market. Many apartments are rented for short periods of time by their occupants who might otherwise have left the apartment empty while they are away, for example in school or working. In other cases people rent out a spare room. Currently people are allowed to rent out apartments for 90 days each year without registering them as guesthouses.
