@Sagit0 @Paul1255 @Helen3 @Gordon0 I've been booking Airbnb's in London since 2010, and I've also been studying the London market for several years now, and it's actually quite shocking (and sad) to see how far the prices have plummeted, and how much the hosting landscape has changed, paricularly in the past couple of years.
It's been quite a few months since I've had a really close look at the London searches though, but this thread prompted me do just that tonight, and I was pretty stunned at what I found (excellent news for travellers - not so much for hosts) I was literally paying double the price a decade ago, for what comparable properties can be rented for on the platform now. Below are the results of my searches...
London. Fri Feb 21 - Sun Feb 23. Entire Home. Price Limit €110 (around £100)
Of the Top 50 listings returned in the search
Composition:
- 29 (58%) Pro/commercial operators
- 16 (32%) New hosts, with 0 reviews.
- 9 (18%) Superhosts
(Overlap - Pros with new listings)
Reviews.
- 16 (32%) with 0 reviews
- 22 (44%) with 1 - 25 reviews
- 9 (18%) with 26 - 60 reviews
- 0 (0%) with 61 - 99 reviews
- 1 (2%) with 100 reviews (Plus Host)
- 1 (2%) w/ 172 reviews (Pro,92 listings)
-1 (2%) w/ 327 reviews (Pro,301 lstings)
Findings.
- No regular hosts with more than 50 reviews in Top 50
- No superhost in Top 50 with more than 39 reviews
- No long-term (over 2/3 years) regular hosts in the Top 50 at all.
- The two commercial operators with 172 and 327 reviews had ratings of 4.31 and 4.23 respectively. Both featured in the Top 10 listings.
- Only 18 (36%) of the Top 50 were a 4.5 rating or above.
- According to Airbnb's own stats, just 23% of London listings already booked for my dates.
- The lowest price was €58 (about £50) for up to 5 guests.
https://abnb.me/cRqqnKckX3
- The lowest rating was 2.92, for basically a closet with damp, mould and no hot water (as per reviews)
https://abnb.me/XKJBvrykX3
- The one Plus listing had a 4.93 rating, 100 reviews and was charging €80 p.n.
https://abnb.me/zZnSfK0kX3
- Even though it was outwith my price parameters, this studio in King's Cross was shown in the Top 50 - 4.5, 4 reviews from December, 2 of them cancellations, and €0 Airbnb service fee.
https://abnb.me/VjXOEdw3W3
- No. 3 of the Top 50 had 4 reviews, and just 2 days booked on the calendar, yet had the "Rare find - Kay's place is usually booked" banner on it
https://abnb.me/uFd6HT6lX3
- No. 2 in my search results had a 4.2 rating, and apart from one recent review, appears not to have been booked since last July. Excellent location (just off Kensington High St) though
https://abnb.me/F5eguRXnX3
- And this gorgeous 2-storey loft was all the way down at No. 50, at just €83 per night
https://abnb.me/tkUkxBRoX3
I realise my research methods aren't exactly cutting-edge scientific - a pen, a notepad and a ton of patience - but if that's what I'm seeing, that's what searching guests are seeing too.. the "professionalisation" of Airbnb in high definition.