Number of Airbnb in Prague Have Fallen by Half

Almost seven thousand apartments with a total of 18,732 beds were offered last July by landlords in Prague. That is half of the apartments compared to July 2019.

It emerged from the analysis, published by the Institute of Planning and Development Authority (IPR).

It is no surprise that the majority the beds offered on Airbnb are located mainly in the city centre and its surroundings. The reasons for this are obvious – it is used mainly by tourists who prefer accommodation within walking distance from tourist destinations.

Largest selection provides:

• New Town (1,696 units)
• Old Town (957)
• Vinohrady (726)
• Žižkov (616)
• Smíchov (459).

Another surprising finding is that there is a drastic reduction in tourism. Many short-time leases on Airbnb, usually used by tourists have moved to long-term leases since 2018.

“Owners of these houses in Prague have responded to this and have decided to move from short-term renting to long-term renting.”

“Currently, the rent is at a similar level as before the pandemic and we can expect its further growth,” said Peter Višňovský of Lexxus real estate agency. According to him, only a minority of owners decided to completely abandon the market and sell the property.

Prices for housing increase in the city

Compared to 2018, the last year reduced the overall share of the apartments and houses in Prague’s housing stock. While in 2018 this offer is occupied 1.4% of the housing stock in 2019 rose to 1.6%, to 2020 came to 1.4%. Last year then brought a further reduction in the proportion of flats and houses on Airbnb, which in July fell to 0.7%.

The cause of this condition is again restrictions on travel. A number of apartments and houses were left unused and, as shown by the analysis, almost half of them were from the Airbnb listings were completely removed.

According to the analysis, the recovery of tourism is expected to return, thus the return of short-term accommodation, especially in the city centre.

New laws introduced mean that this would allow the city to regulate the supply of housing. So far, authorities have managed to establish all providers of short-term accommodation obligation to pay a fee of residence, online platforms are also obliged to trade authorities to share information about residents.

However, the change in the laws allows governments to directly regulate. For example, number of days in the year when the property can provide to tourists.

“We asked parliamentarians to amend the Small Business Act in order to limit the number of overnight stays per year or the maximum number of persons.” The regulations will make it more fair towards renters of all accommodation types.