Is the effect of Airbnb on the housing market different in medium-sized cities? Evidence from a Southern European city

Abstract

Academic literature has analysed the effects of renting vacation homes in recent years from the perspective of large cities. This paper aims to test whether these effects also occur in smaller tourist cities. For this purpose, the case of San Sebastian (Spain), a medium sized tourist city. We find that a one unit increase per 100 housing units in Airbnb listings leads to a citywide average monthly advertised rent of €1,284.20, an increase of 49.45€, on average. This implies a much higher effect of Airbnb on the rental market than previous studies that focused on large cities.