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Understanding the key short-term rental statistics and trends for 2024 is crucial for anyone looking to capitalize on this continually evolving market.
In this article, you’ll learn about the latest growth figures, market demand insights, and the impact of regulatory changes. You’ll also see how occupancy rates have shifted in the US and which international events could boost demand and which regions will benefit most.
Plus, we talk about changes in guest needs, and how vacation rental technology can help you create the autonomous stays guests look for and make your management processes more scalable.
The US short-term rental (STR) industry ended 2023 strongly—with very high numbers of listings, record stays over the summer, and the highest-ever revenue.
So far, the start of 2024 has looked far more promising than that of 2023, suggesting there could be an even more positive year ahead.
The end of 2023 confirmed that the year had been positive in terms of demand, suggesting that people are still excited to spend their hard-earned cash on stays away from home.
Despite those revenue increases, last year also saw the end of the post-pandemic “boom,” with occupancy rates overall dropping below the pre-Covid levels for the first time. This appeared to be a correction of the unusual post-Covid explosion, rather than the start of a true decline in demand.
As a result, 2024 should continue to correct this artificial spike in demand, allowing the vacation rental market to settle while maintaining predictable and still-high occupancy for property managers.
Being aware of the year’s challenges may help you stay pragmatic in your plans, but the year is also set to present plenty of inspiration too.
Major challenges having a growing impact on the STR market include:
Extra laws and changing permissions—including a ban on non-owner-occupied properties—have led to a decline in demand, especially in busy cities NYC (NY), New Orleans (LA), Maui (HI), and Philadelphia (PA). Hotels have started to take note of STR trends and have modified their prices to match, making competition even tougher for rentals alone.
While inflation has slowed, an uncertain market and unstable global situation may have an impact on people’s tendencies to spend on vacation travel. Uncertainty around November’s Presidential Election could amplify this effect.
Despite the benefits of direct booking for both businesses and consumers, OTAs (online travel agencies, or online booking rental platforms) show no sign of slowing down, highlighting the importance of convenience and strong branding to travelers during the search and booking processes.
Figures published in 2023 show that the Booking.com app achieved 80 million downloads in 2022, and continues to grow, cementing its place as a leading global travel app.
Booking.com generated $17 billion in 2022, a staggering year-on-year increase of 56%. It also reported $121.3 billion worth of bookings via its hotel and vacation home listings, with 895 million nights booked.
Airbnb was in second place on downloads in 2022 (52 million), and Expedia in third (27 million). Still-emerging apps are Agoda (12 million), Vrbo (20 million), and Hopper (19.8 million.)
The STR market in 2024 is ripe with potential, highlighted by a nationwide surge in demand and strategic opportunities to boost income. Here are some of the top reasons to be positive about STR growth this year.
STR demand is already up nationwide compared to 2022 and 2023, a positive sign and start to the year. Nightly rates are also likely to continue growing, albeit at a slower level than at the start of 2023 (the rate of increase slowed over the course of last year to 1.7%).
If higher interest rates hit your real estate portfolio hard in 2023, you can still maximize your income from vacation rentals in 2024 by investing in your estate with guest-pleasing upgrades and renovations that will ensure your listings stand out above the rest.
Non-obvious places with original attractions, such as Wisconsin Dells’ penchant for waterparks, or properties near environmental marvels such as the Mojave National Park (CA), will prove increasingly attractive. In fact, coastal markets saw a 25% increase in demand in 2023 compared to 2019.
The holiday arriving in late March rather than April could bring extra bookings in warmer locations earlier in the year as people look to vacation while the weather remains cold.
People are likely to flock to more rural properties where they can get a clear view of the night sky. The best places to see it will be in the south of the country, including Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; moving further north-west to Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Vermont.
Both the Paris Olympics and Paralympics (from July 26th through August 11th, 2024), and Euro 2024 (in Germany from June 14th through July 14th) will have a major impact on STRs in their relevant cities, with opportunities galore to capture sports fans in droves.
With continued high demand in the STR industry, the competition between STR businesses is set to continue in 2024.
Exceed guest expectations and stand out in a saturated market with these tech-focused tips.
Setting up keyless entry at your rentals is a must for modern properties in 2024.
Guests are automatically sent their access code before check-in and can get in easily without an in-person exchange of keys. You don’t have to hire someone to welcome your guests, and there’s no stress if their arrival is delayed.
Security is tighter, as there’s no risk of lost or stolen keys, and you can change the codes with each new guest. This offers peace of mind to you, saves your teamwork, and gives guests greater autonomy throughout their stay.
A system like Minut can integrate with your Property Management System (PMS) and sync with your calendar, so you can keep track of unit status and see as soon as a guest has checked out.
Guests today increasingly expect communication to be fast, personal, and efficient, and 2024 will only amplify this trend.
Scheduling messages to their phone—whether to confirm their rental booking, send them arrival information, welcome them, or remind them of the checkout process—shows your professionalism and ensures guests have everything they need for an easy, seamless stay.
Automated guest messaging like Minut’s Guest Connect also lets you communicate directly with guests when you need to, without having to spend hours watching your phone or manually typing out texts.
Digital communication also means making it easy for guests to book online (whether through an OTA or by improving your direct booking website and social media presence.
You can also connect your rental calendar to a dynamic pricing platform (like Wheelhouse, Beyond Pricing, or PriceLabs) to help optimize your rates whether to make your stays more competitive within your local market or to take advantage of a high-demand event.
STR security has gone beyond clumsy and intrusive CCTV cameras or enlisting a local resident to keep watch.
In 2024, rentals will increasingly rely on scalable home protection solutions like Minut, which can detect motion in a vacant property.
Minut also detects if a window is broken, and can recognize individual alarms to alert you if something needs attention (such as a fire alarm or a carbon monoxide alarm). This gives you peace of mind even if you manage your rentals remotely and have a large inventory, as you’ll receive an automated smartphone alert as per your customizations whenever there’s an issue across your portfolio.
Even the sleekest new tech won’t impress guests in 2024 if they don’t have the amenities they need and want.
Be sure to highlight your rentals’ devices and provisions clearly in your short-term rental listings, so your vacation rental company stands out above the rest. Include a screenshot of a speed test of your high-speed Wi-Fi if you want to attract digital nomads or professionals; show your eco-friendly, luxury toiletries in the bathroom to appeal to green-conscious guests; and be sure to highlight your pool and outdoor space for summer vacationers.
Tech extends here too; you can offer guests a digital guestbook with recommendations included, so they can plan their trip itinerary or order upsells (such as sports equipment or taxi rides) through their smartphones as well. A well-equipped, modern property means happy, satisfied guests in 2024.
The peak of COVID may have long receded, but it had a lasting effect on guests’ expectations of cleanliness, especially in a popular property with many guests, and this will continue into 2024.
Setting up an efficient cleaning and maintenance team—whose access can also be controlled remotely via smart locks—will ensure your business turnovers run smoothly and your properties are always sparkling before guests arrive, even if they booked last minute.
The biggest innovations in the STR space go beyond smart locks and texts. Set your business
up for success in 2024 and beyond with this advanced vacation rental tech.
Preventing parties, damage, and disruption is a continued priority for vacation rental hosts in 2024. Ensure guests keep to your rental rules by installing noise and occupancy detectors from a specialist like Minut.
These discreet, all-in-one devices don’t infringe on guest privacy by recording, filming, or listening in. Instead, they detect decibel levels beyond your customized threshold for a specified amount of time and count how many smartphones are in the property. No more loud music at 11pm or 10 people staying in a two-bed.
If anything appears amiss, Minut can text your guests automatically with a polite reminder of the rules. Meanwhile, Minut’s CallAssist and GuardAssist plans can send responders trained in mediation to your property to save you and your team from having to directly manage a potentially confrontational situation.
Cigarette smoke can be very costly to your business and affect your relationships with guests and homeowners. The latest technology by Minut not only detects cigarette smoke, distinguishing it from other types of smoke, but automates an alert and guest message.
By letting guests know about the technology before their stay, Minut’s smoke detection system also helps prevent any cases of guests breaking your house rules. Plus you can use Minut’s events log as evidence of their smoking should you experience a dispute.
With the growth of ChatGPT, the year 2023 was a controversial time for artificial intelligence (AI), but its ever-evolving abilities can also help with your STRs, with AI-powered background checks on guests.
These tools can check for any negative guest reviews, see if the guest is listed on any criminal records or databases, and detect if they might be using a stolen credit card, or committing fraud.
This helps you spot potential problems before they occur and gives confidence to your homeowner clients that you have the resources to properly protect their properties.
A positive end to 2023 has put the STR industry on a promising footing for 2024, but challenges remain as the market continues to become more saturated, hence the drop in occupancy rates.
In such a competitive space, and with OTAs continuing to dominate the industry, the most successful property managers will be those who are ready to innovate and embrace new technologies, simplifying their processes while efficiently meeting guest expectations on convenience and autonomy.
Hosts that use the latest devices to monitor noise and occupancy, communicate efficiently, automate messaging, simplify access, and enhance security will be well-placed for business growth in 2024 and beyond, riding out any challenges in the sector while profiting from new opportunities too.
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