Paris Olympics Bookings Fall Short of Expectations as Short-Term Rental and Hotel Prices Drop!

Hello, and welcome to Snowball Rentals’ WeChat account, where you can read about recent developments in the US short-term rental market.

Airbnb has long become a preferred source for people seeking authentic experiences and good-value vacations.

The Paris Olympics begin next month, and Paris has once again become a global focus.

Yet Paris homeowners hoping to make Olympic profits by renting short-term are disappointed. After a brief rush for accommodation at the beginning of 2024, the market has cooled.

According to Yahoo! Taiwan news, the comfortable 27-ping apartment shown below (坪 is the area unit used in the source), in Paris’s 11th arrondissement near Place de la Bastille, can accommodate 8 people and costs €350–€550 per night during the Olympics, but has still received no bookings.

The main reason is saturated supply. Rentable homes in Paris have surged from 65,000 in August 2023 to 130,000 in August 2024.

An asset-management operator identified in the source as 伊比亚 said that rental supply had increased markedly, with people listing homes on platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com. As a result, rent increases have remained below 10%: about 3–4% for top-end luxury homes and 1–3% for ordinary residential homes.

A year ago, a small home like this, of around 17 ping, could cost as much as €1,000 a night in summer. By April this year, that had halved to €508. Even upscale hotels near popular attractions now have fewer bookings than expected and have seen prices fall for several consecutive months, because visitors have more economical short-term rental options.

An operator identified in the source as 迪罗罕 said: “Initially, we planned to triple our usual rates during the Olympics. That proved difficult, so we changed to twice the usual price, expecting rooms to fill more quickly and attract more groups. But that did not happen.”

According to market research, hotel bookings for this year’s Olympic period are currently around 28%, only slightly higher than last year’s 24%. The industry expects occupancy during the Olympics to peak at only about 70%.

Although owners and operators are disappointed, this is good news for tourists. Searching for accommodation now may reveal unexpectedly low prices.

It appears that the short-term rental downturn is not limited to North America: even highly popular Paris has fallen short of expectations.

Overall, as entry barriers fall and more people join the industry, competition and price wars intensify. Earning money amid fierce competition comes down to two things: an attractive home and professional operations.

As a homeowner, you may now be wondering: my home is quite good, but how much could it earn on Airbnb? Would it earn more than a long-term rental? Would it involve a lot of trouble?

Contact us right away! We will evaluate it for you free of charge.

If you:

Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

Winter is the low season for Seattle’s short-term rental market, especially in 2023. Some recent large bookings, however, have been like a ray of sunshine, giving us high hopes for Airbnb’s performance this summer!

For the following townhouse in Seattle, Zillow shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$3,036.

It is worth mentioning that the owner is a Black woman who spends only a few months each year in Seattle because of work and spends the rest of her time in other cities.

She found us through a friend’s recommendation and wanted to try short-term rentals, joking that she did not have high hopes.

(Illustrative image; not the actual owner.)

After we furnished the home, however, it received a large 30-night booking only a few days after being listed.

Rental income rose from US$3,036 to US$6,912.12!

As shown in the booking screenshot below, the guest booked 30 nights through Airbnb. Almost without noticing, a short-term rental became a mid-term rental.

This booking’s rent plus cleaning fees totaled US$6,912.12!

In summary, after Snowball Rentals operated this property, one month’s rental income rose from US$3,036 to US$6,912.12, an increase of 128%.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

After Airbnb’s downturn in 2023, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners regain ground in summer 2024!

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

Let us take a look together at how this townhouse, which secured a large one-month booking shortly after being listed, changed after our styling work!

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

This Week’s Short Videos

We regularly update short videos every week.

The content you need is all here.

👇🏻 Homeowners are welcome to follow us 👇🏻

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We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending!

Keep rental income growing!

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Xiao An’s Vacation-Rental Styling

Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$500 referral fee for each referral.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$250 shopping voucher for each referral.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays longer than 30 days.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals longer than 30 days, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals under 30 days, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.