Miami hosts’ year-long take via Airbnb totals $37M: report

Miami home owners who rented their residences on Airbnb collected $37 million of rental revenue during the year ended Nov. 1 – and not all of it at the expense of Miami hotels.

The San Francisco-based home-sharing network reported that 174,000 guests visited Miami during the year-long period and that 36 percent of them would not have made the trip, or stayed as long, without Airbnb.

The average stay of Airbnb guests in Miami was 4.4 nights. They spent an average of $253 a day on food, transportation, leisure and retail purchases – about half of it in the neighborhoods where they stayed. Their economic impact on Miami during the one-year period totaled $130 million, according to the report.

An Airbnb report on Miami for the 12 months that began in November 2015 also shows that the city had 3,300 active hosts who hosted an average of 39 nights and collected an average of $6,100 in rental revenue.

Among current Airbnb listings in Miami, 70 percent are for the entire home, 26 percent for a private room and 4 percent for a shared room.

Airbnb reported that 68 percent of its Miami guests traveled from North American cities – including 17 percent from New York City alone. Another 18 percent came from Europe and 12 percent from Latin America. Less than 1 percent each came from Africa, Asia and Australia.

Airbnb also reported on operations in two Miami submarkets during the one-year period. In Wynwood, 310 active hosts booked an average of 25 nights and earned an average of $3,800 each. In Little Haiti, 140 active hosts booked an average of 59 nights and averaged $3,900 in rental income.

The average age of Airbnb hosts in Miami is 40, and most have occupations in education and health services (20 percent), art and design (13 percent), business services (13 percent) and hospitality (10 percent). Nine percent are retired. “Hosts over 60 are the fastest growing group in Miami,” Airbnb reported. Almost half of its hosts in Miami have annual household incomes from $15,000 to $75,000.

The city of Miami Beach has cracked down on short-term home rentals via Airbnb and other home-sharing networks in city zones where such rentals are illegal. A year ago, the Miami Beach commission increased fines for such violations to $20,000 for a first-time offense from the previous range of $500 to $7,500. Since then, the city has fined violators more than $1 million.

Miami Beach commissioners last month delayed approval of new regulations that would affect Airbnb and other short-term lodging websites. A discussion of the proposal is part of the commissioners’ agenda for their meeting on Wednesday. Under the proposed regulations, properties rented to visitors via Airbnb and similar websites and mobile apps would be classified as “transient short-term rentals.” House and condo owners seeking short-term tenants would be required to notify the city to determine if their properties are in zones where such rentals are allowed. Owners of property where short-term rentals are allowed also would be required to submit a notarized affidavit to the city, swearing they have an appropriate business-tax receipt and resort-tax registration certificate.

Airbnb has urged the city to allow property owners to submit a verification form instead of a notarized affidavit because it would be less cumbersome.