Airbnb launches apartment platform in Austin

Renters in nine Austin-area apartment buildings can now list their units on Airbnb to earn extra cash while out of town.

Driving the news: The company announced last week that its Airbnb-friendly apartments platform will expand to the Austin metro, making 2,901 units eligible for Airbnb hosting.

• The listing service for rental units, which launched last fall, is now available in 37 markets in the U.S.

Why it matters: Most renters would violate their lease by listing their apartment unit as a short-term rental. Through the program, complexes enter an agreement with Airbnb.

Details: Airbnb partnered with Austin apartments in South Austin, downtown, the Domain, Cedar Park and Kyle.

• The max number of nights allowed depends on the building.
• Airbnb estimates that local renters could earn up to $1,340 per month.

By the numbers: Austin Airbnb hosts made about 11% less than the typical host in the U.S. last year, according to company figures shared with Axios' Sami Sparber.

• The typical host in Austin earned approximately $12,500 in 2022, compared to the national median of $14,000, per Airbnb data.

Between the lines: The national short-term rental supply reached record levels in 2022, swelling 20% year-over-year to 1.3 million listings, per data from AirDNA, a short-term rental analysis firm.

Be smart: Austin requires hosts to obtain an operating license, although city officials told KXAN that just 1,875 of Austin's 11,000 short-term rentals are licensed.

• The city's Development Services Department Code Division recently shifted its focus to "behavioral issues that make short-term rentals incompatible with Austin's neighborhoods," rather than compliance, because of legal questions raised by the city's push to crack down on unlicensed short-term rentals.