Compared to international tourism hotspots such as Sydney or the Gold Coast, Canberra has often been overlooked by property investors seeking better returns by renting out their property on Airbnb.
But data from short-term rental listings on Airbnb has revealed the nation’s capital as one of the best performing markets in terms of accommodation demand and occupancy, leading to the recent expansion of MadeComfy’s Airbnb management services to the Canberra market at the start of this year.
Image: MadeComfy
Unlike other major Airbnb markets affected by seasonality, Canberra experiences almost year-round accommodation demand from corporate, government and business related travel, as well as flexible student accommodation from tertiary education centres: the Australian National University, University of Canberra and Australian Defence Force Academy.
In the last 12 months, short-term rental occupancy rates have averaged 80% across the city, while average daily rental rates have ranged from $146 per night to as high as $171 (see figure 1 below). The steady demand for accommodation is concentrated mostly around the Inner North area of Canberra’s CBD as well as areas surrounding the Manuka and Kingston foreshore area, which primarily consist of medium and high-density apartments.
Certain high demand suburbs facing a shortage of flexible accommodation options such as Braddon, Turner, Belconnen and Bruce are enjoying occupancy rates closer to 90%.
Figure 1: Canberra Average Daily Rates (ADR) by month
Canberra’s growing short-term rental accommodation market
The short-term rental market in the nation's capital has seen consistent growth with annual listing nights booked increasing 91% in the last three years (see figure 2 below).
Figure 2: Canberra’s growing short-term rental market - monthly booked properties Vs listing nights booked
Hotel and services apartment rates in the city have remained elevated, leading to increasing numbers of travellers seeking better value in alternative accommodation platforms such as Airbnb.
The growth of the Canberra short-term market can also be seen alongside the growing preference for younger professionals to stay in privately hosted short-term rentals such as Airbnb properties, over hotels and serviced apartments.
Airbnb’s Evolution of Work survey found that when it comes to travelling for work, more than 6 in 10 Australians (61%) would prefer to stay in an Airbnb with nearly half (49%) saying that they want the comforts of a real home when travelling on business.
According to the survey findings, the ability to cook rather than eating out (44%), being able to wash their clothes (35%), having their own space and privacy (33%), having room to spread out their working documents and files (32%), and having a separate area to entertain and catch up with friends in different cities (22%) were the main drivers for workers turning to the sharing economy for work-based travel.
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