Holy smokes, I had no idea this was a thing! I thought I was the dummy for not being able to figure out where the sort by price function was, and I honestly googled just to find a simple answer. It has now led me down this rabbit hole.
Got back no Airbnb after a nearly 6 year hiatus as I'll be traveling to a small town with nearly no presence of international hotel brands. Figured why not dust off my old Airbnb account? -- Now I know why I left in the first place...
I understand disabling the sort function is Airbnb's way of being able to exert control over what listings get preferable placements on search as they offer tiered pricing for hosts. But that speaks volumes about where Airbnb's priorities are; ramping up revenue from upselling to suppliers (hosts), while forsaking basic convenience for consumers (guests).