This year's Concept Community survey, which gauged the technology wants and needs of today's renters, has received more than 84,000 responses from across the nation, our highest total ever.
Each week, we'll highlight a new stat to whet your whistle, until a full presentation of the groundbreaking survey is revealed at the Multifamily Executive Conference in September. The survey was conducted by J Turner Research, our data partner on the project, from mid-May to June 23.
For our inaugural Stat of the Week, we look at the hot-button topic of short-term rentals, or "the Airbnb model." And preliminary results of the survey found that, like owners and managers, many renters have reservations about living in a community that allows such rapid subletting.
As you can see in the graphic above, more than a quarter of the 84,489 respondents (25.08%) said they would definitely not rent from a community that allowed this "gig economy" application. That's a pretty strong rejection.
Further, 21.32% of renters said they would be less willing to live in such an apartment complex, while another 18.12% expressed ambiguity, saying they'd be "somewhat willing." All told, more than 64% of all renters expressed a degree of negativity regarding short-term rentals.
This perception is somewhat balanced by the 24.95% of respondents who say the presence of short-term rentals is not a factor in their decision, while a little more than 10.5% actually view it as a virtue.
Once we dive into this particular data set and slice and dice it demographically, it will be interesting to see whether these results change significantly depending on age, gender, or other variables. But one thing is clear: The reservations expressed by owners regarding the Airbnb model is reflected on the other side of the leasing desk.
Stay tuned.
