By Kathleen Howley | HousingWire
While the real estate market has lots of challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, a tsunami of houses being sold by Airbnb hosts isn’t one of them.
Airbnb’s tally of 850,000 whole-house listings is just 0.8% of the nation’s stock of single-family homes. Even if a big chunk of them came on the market – and there’s no evidence that will happen – it would be a welcome relief to the severe shortage of housing inventory.
Some property owners who bought or leased real estate with the aim of maximizing profits through Airbnb rentals are finding they’re in a jam. Airbnb hosts saw $1.5 billion in bookings cancelled in mid-March when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the U.S. While guests got full refunds, per an Airbnb decision, hosts still had to pay mortgages on the properties.
