Airbnb dominates the short-term rental market, but the service’s success has started a new conversation: the company’s impact on housing affordability, also known as the “Airbnb effect.” But it's a layered conversation, Michael Seiler, professor of real estate and finance at the College of William & Mary, told Fortune. The real effect to pay attention to, he said, is what Airbnb does to long-term rentals.
Seiler decided to go deeper in his research, with co-authors—Purdue University economics professor Ralph Siebert and The Chinese University of Hong Kong real estate professor Liuming Yang—in a paper, “Airbnb or Not Airbnb? That is the Question: How Airbnb Bans Disrupt Rental Markets,” shared with Fortune. The paper is under revision for a top field journal in real estate, they said. The takeaway is clear, though.
