Reset or renaissance? An exploratory comparison of pre- and post-pandemic regional short-term rental markets in Australia

Following nearly a decade of unabated growth in the digitally disruptive short-term rental (STR) sector, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a relatively abrupt two-year industry contraction characterised by substantial reductions in participating properties and booking activities. Given the sudden opportunity to rethink how STR markets fit alongside more traditional accommodation arrangements, this unanticipated Black Swan event catalysed much debate about the role that STRs play, and how they are regulated and managed. As the STR market rebounds toward a ‘new normal’, a timely opportunity exists to understand and theorise how and where the industry evolves. In this paper, we apply regression modelling and descriptive statistics to compare STR property utilisation across four regional markets in Australia both before and after the pandemic. We observe a sharp reduction yet strong intensification in available properties after the COVID-19 pandemic, with 27% fewer properties that were booked 26% more often across the nation. This was led by a significant geographical shift from capital cities to high-amenity, tourist-focused regions. Our findings suggest that this pivot is driven by spatial market segmentation, in which urban STRs are operated professionally, whereas regional markets are distinguished by their amenity value, both at the regional and property scales. Combined, the results of this study point to a more professionalised STR hosting landscape in which properties are more intensively used. Any potential policy reform should consider this evolution in the STR accommodation sector.