Airbnb Hosts Cash in on Republican, Democratic National Conventions

The Republican Convention and Democratic Convention are going to be held in held in Cleveland and Philadelphia, respectively, in the coming weeks and although most residents aren't thrilled by the candidates, many of them are excited to make some extra income using Airbnb.

AirDNA has done a quick analysis of the two cities to see how supply of vacation rentals and the pricing of those units have been impacted by the conventions. 

The median asking price for an entire home Airbnb rental during the Tuesday and Wednesday night of the Republican convention shoots up to $1,300 per night and four-bedroom homes are asking $2,350 a night on average.

Our data shows that approximately 300 properties have already been booked at these asking prices that are five times higher than the standard ADR in the area.  430 Entire place rentals are still available in the city as of July 13. The median price for short-term rental returns to a more reasonable rate of $264 per night just two weeks later. 

Airbnb listing growth is often driven by big events.  Homeowners that have long pondered the idea of making some extra income renting their property are finally given the incentive to take pictures and about their property. 

Listing growth explodes in the 6 months leading into the Republican Convention. There are currently 900 active Airbnb listings in Cleveland, 700 of which have been since the beginning of 2016.  That is a 250% increase in the total number of active rentals that existed previously!

Philadelphia is seeing similar Airbnb pricing trends for the Democratic Convention that is occurring the following week.  Median available rental prices increase to $900 a night for all entire home rentals in the city limits.

The growth of Airbnb rentals shows a much different story. This isn’t the first time Philadelphia has been graced with a huge event that has promised to provide a big payday for local homeowners. In September of 2015, the Pope visited Philly and the city went bonkers for Airbnb. In less than 6 months the city went from 1,500 total listings to over 6,000. You can see below that the growth of new listings has completely flatlined after the Pope's visit. Many of the same hosts that created their Airbnb listing last year have relisted for the Democratic Convention.

See how pricing fluctuates over the year in your city with AirDNA’s MarketMinder tool

Airbnb hosts in Cleveland and Philadelphia earned big by listing their house vacation rentals during the republican and democratic national conventions. Read blog!