For the first time, Airbnb has released data on South Florida, one of the top markets for the short-term rental giant.
Not surprisingly, more than half of Florida’s 16,100 Airbnb hosts were in South Florida in 2015, including nearly 8,000 hosts in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and about 1,000 in West Palm Beach.
In Miami-Dade, the median earnings for a typical host were $9,300 a year over the course of about 45 days, or $207 per night, according to the report. As a whole, the county saw 322,500 inbound Airbnb guests.
Up north in Broward, the typical host made $6,900 annually over the course of about 49 days, or $141 per night. Broward County saw significantly fewer Airbnb users than Miami at 59,100 in 2015.
Airbnb grew its market share in Miami and Fort Lauderdale by 120 percent from 2014 to 2015, the report shows.
The typical Florida host earned $7,200 in 2015. And the state as a whole welcomed 754,000 Airbnb guests, a 149 percent increase from 2014, according to the report. Airbnb spokesperson Christopher Nulty told The Real Deal that Airbnb has hosts in every county in the state.
“What this means is that there are people is every corner of the state opening up their homes,” Nulty said.
Airbnb collects and remits bed taxes statewide (6 percent) and in 27 Florida counties, not including Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties. Nulty said that Airbnb is continuing to have “productive conversations” with Miami-Dade to collect and remit taxes and is closer to reaching an agreement.
The hotel industry, which generally opposes the short-term rental platform, said in an AHLA report earlier this year that Airbnb operators could owe close to $16 million a year in local lodging taxes. Airbnb responded to the report, calling it factually inaccurate and misleading.
On Monday, Airbnb said it will start collecting lodging tax from its hosts in Los Angeles, which Nulty said was “a huge win for the community.” The taxes could generate up to $6 million for L.A. annually.
Here’s a chart breaking down Airbnb’s Florida data:
Click to enlarge