Airbnb drives up NYC rents by $6 per month: report

Short-term rental service gives slight price boost in some major US cities

Thomas Davidoff and Airbnb founders
Thomas Davidoff and Airbnb founders

Airbnb gives a slight boost to average rents in some major cities in the U.S., according to a University of British Columbia professor’s study commissioned by the short-term rental company.

The listing service increases the price of a one-bedroom New York City apartment by roughly $6 per month. The jump is even bigger for a one-bedroom in San Francisco – about $19 per month.

Thomas Davidoff, assistant professor at the Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia, used data on the majority of Airbnb’s 1 million listings.

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Critics of the service have said that people who rent out their apartments to tourists are willing to pay higher rent.

“It’s not an affordability issue. It’s a luxury neighborhood issue or a bohemian neighborhood issue,” Davidoff told the Wall Street Journal.

Airbnb, which is valued at more than $20 billion, reportedly spent roughly $15 million on television ads in the second half of 2014. [WSJ]Mark Maurer