Austin Property Management Insights | June 2023

With reports of a national "Airbnbust", the number of active listings in Austin, Texas has hit a new all-time high.

As the world continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, a renewed sense of wanderlust has fallen over travelers. International adventures are available once again, but this has significantly affected the vacation rental market in Austin. With a wider variety of destinations open for travel, fewer groups seem to be interested in driving to their getaways. Additionally, much of the workforce has returned to office settings and can no longer enjoy the same extended "staycations" as in previous years, reserving their vacation time to visit new places.

More unfortunate for hosts in Austin, overall demand is tracking down just as supply is hitting new highs.

With Austin homeowners struggling to sell their homes in the current market and many others touting the benefits of STR hosting over the last few years, listing volume has surged. For larger homes with four to six bedrooms, volume has increased from 1,437 listings in June of 2022 to over 2,100 listings in June of 2023.

Despite this increase in perceived competition, GuestSpaces and many professional hosts are confident they can weather this storm, knowing that not all rentals are the same in the eyes of potential guests.

Active Listings 4-6 Bedrooms, June 2022 vs June 2023

The Guest Experience Gap

Following the massive disruption of COVID-19, travelers have become more aware and critical of the differences between traditional hotel accommodations and short-term vacation rental properties. Citing issues with shared spaces, poor housekeeping, high fees, and unnecessary rules, some travelers have voiced their unhappiness online and called into question the benefit over a hotel stay.

Legacy hotel brands recognize the opportunity these complaints present. Hilton's 2022 commercial features a family arriving at a vacation rental that is laughably "different than it looked online," panning through dark cluttered hallways and over a creepy talking doll collection. The ad campaign pokes fun at many of the issues commonly experienced by guests at makeshift rental properties hosted by individual owners.

So what can be done by those looking to maintain their position in Austin's short-term rental market?

Firstly, partnering with a professional management company can save your home from many of the pitfalls previously mentioned. Your management team can recommend ways to best outfit your property as a purpose-built short-term rental and eliminate the possibility of guests feeling as if they are in someone else's home. Additionally, professional managers will often have their own rules and policies carefully outlined to protect your investment while being mindful of the freedoms guests expect to enjoy at a given price point.

Homeowner Tip: Look for a management company with in-house housekeeping teams to ensure consistency across all cleans. This will help keep reviews and ratings high which, in turn, influence your ranking in property searches.

Professional management companies are often assigned representatives from major booking platforms for additional support and market insights. GuestSpaces works closely with our representatives to ensure we are aware of all new settings and features available to us. By having a well-informed management team maintain your property's listings, it is more likely to be complete and therefore best optimized for property searches.

Finally, though overall listing volume is up, you can set your property apart as a homeowner or investor by adding or seeking out specific amenities such as pools or water access. Guests filter searches by these amenities and your home will not be shown in any searches filtered by something unavailable at your property.

Homeowner Tip: In Austin's 9th ever hottest January through June, pools are becoming an increasingly mandatory amenity in order to maintain expected occupancy and revenue in 2023.

Pools by Bedroom Count: How Many Austin Rentals Have One?

The data below shows what percentage of active Austin listings in each bedroom tier have a pool. If your home does not have a pool, you are competing against a shrinking share of the market while guests increasingly filter for this amenity.