Three years of growth: The state of Airbnb-friendly real estate

Key Takeaways

• Over 1,300 Airbnb-friendly buildings in 75+ markets, with international expansion underway.
• Major new collaborations with Apartment List and Entrata help renters discover and benefit from Airbnb-friendly living.
• Federal policy shifts by Freddie Mac and ongoing work more broadly signal growing acceptance and support among industry leaders and policymakers.
• Program partners have seen resident income, new demand, and stronger communities.

Three years ago, Airbnb partnered with leading real estate companies to launch Airbnb-friendly Apartments—a first-of-its-kind program designed to help renters find buildings where responsible part-time hosting is allowed. Since then, the Airbnb-friendly program has grown into a recognized amenity across apartments and condo buildings. Today, Airbnb-friendly Apartments and Airbnb-friendly Condos include more than 1,300 buildings in 75+ markets participating, including internationally in the UK and Brazil. 

With housing costs and mortgage rates still elevated, many residents are looking for practical ways to earn extra income. Airbnb-friendly provides meaningful relief: in the last year, the typical part-time apartment host in the Airbnb-friendly program earned about $3,900 across 34 nights of hosting,¹ roughly 2.5 months of rent for the average U.S. renter.²  In the same time frame, around 2,200 renters have earned supplemental income—nearly $13 million in total – from this part-time hosting activity.³

A major focus this year has been expanding renter discovery through platform partnerships—most notably with Apartment List. Just this month, Apartment List launched a dedicated “Airbnb-friendly” search filter and amenity, making it easier for renters nationwide to find buildings where they can live and host.

For property managers and operators, this integration is a valuable new way to attract and retain residents interested in hosting. Buildings can now showcase their Airbnb-friendly status directly on Apartment List through a search filter and amenity badge, increasing visibility with high-intent renters.

This collaboration builds on strong results from another partnership, where Airbnb-friendly marketing helped drive clear demand surges.  Participating properties saw up to 1.5× more search impressions, 88% more property views, and 64% more high-intent leads compared with non-Airbnb-friendly properties. It’s a strong signal of growing renter interest and real value for owners and operators⁴.

Airbnb is also partnering with the property management platform Entrata to help drive leasing in new ways. Our first collaboration involves leveraging Airbnb listings in a building to help prospective renters stay in the community before moving-in. The prospective renter not only gets to experience what it’s like to live in a building before leasing, but the leasing team has a new opportunity to connect with a potential tenant.

These tech partnerships support our mission: helping renters earn extra income while giving building partners added revenue potential and oversight tools to help ensure responsible home sharing.

One of the year’s biggest milestones has been our coalition-driven work alongside NMHC, NAA, and leading owners and managers, to modernize federal loan policy at Freddie Mac and advance similar changes more broadly. 

Together, we urged Freddie Mac to create a standard rider allowing tenant hosting in multifamily properties, with sensible guardrails: a 180-night annual cap per tenant and limits on how many units can actively host at once.

This shift represents a meaningful evolution in how short-term rentals are understood within property financing. What began as a niche amenity is increasingly recognized as a mainstream, policy-supported solution that helps renters while providing owners and operators more flexibility.

Our partners, which include five of the top seven REITs in the US, have leaned into the Airbnb-friendly program through dedicated marketing, creative incentives, and hands-on host support. These efforts continue to help renters discover hosting opportunities that make a meaningful difference in their monthly finances.

And the quality of hosting remains consistently high. Guests give Airbnb-friendly stays an average rating of 4.82 out of 5 stars, while hosts give guests 4.95 out of 5 stars, particularly praising  guests’ adherence to house rules.

As rental prices remain elevated across many markets, interest from both renters and property managers continues to build. Our team is focused on expanding partnerships, launching new integrations, and making Airbnb-friendly living accessible to more people.

We’re proud of how far the program has come—powered by tech innovation, strong industry collaboration, and real policy progress. With momentum accelerating, the next chapter of Airbnb-friendly real estate looks exceptionally promising.

^{1 Airbnb earnings data according to internal Airbnb data looking at Airbnb-friendly Apartment host earnings from Nov. 2024-Nov 2025.}

^{2 Average rent as found by the Apartment List November National Rent Report}

^{3 According to Airbnb internal data between Nov. 2024 and Nov. 2025, inclusive of all Airbnb-friendly Apartments.}

^{4 According to Zumper data between Dec. 2024 and February 2025.}