A Look Into Airbnb Rentals in Seattle and Boston
Introduction
Since 2008, Airbnb has revolutionized the hospitality industry by creating an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their homes with people who are looking for accommodations in a specific locale. Airbnb currently covers 100,000 cities and 200 countries worldwide. This is very impressive.
In this article we are going to explore Airbnb rental properties in the Seattle and Boston markets based on data from 2016 to 2017. Specifically, we are going to answer the following 3 questions:
- What is the average rental price per month in each market?
- Which neighborhoods have the highest average listing price?
- Which properties have the highest ratings by reviewers?
Average Monthly Rental Prices
The average rental price for Boston is $158 compared to $107 for Seattle. This means that if one is planning on traveling to Boston then they should anticipate paying a higher price. In the charts below we can see that rental prices in Boston peak from August to October whereas with Seattle the prices remain relatively constant except for a slight dip from January to March.
Which Neighborhoods Have The Highest Avg Listing Price?
Airbnb rental properties can be found in 87 neighborhoods throughout Seattle throughout 25 Boston neighborhoods. It’s very surprising to see that there are many more neighborhoods in the Seattle market.
Below are the top 10 neighborhoods with the highest average price listing for both markets. It would be interesting to analyze these prices by property type since renting a house might cost more than renting an apartment or a smaller type of property.
Which Properties Have The Highest Rating?
It’s probably safe to say that before we book a rental, most of us are probably going to read the reviews for any rental that has our interest. Reviews provide an opportunity for businesses and customers to build a relationship with one another. According to Planet Marketing, 90% of people first check out online reviews before making a purchase.
The Seattle market has 3,792 listings and the Boston market has 3,504 listings and are rated on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. Often times though, many of these properties have scores of 10 which makes it difficult to distinguish why one should choose one property over another if they both have a score of 10.
Luckily for us, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed on the data by analyzing the below attributes to determine which properties were rated the highest:
- review scores rating
- review scores accuracy
- review scores cleanlineness
- review scores checkin
- review scores communication
- review scores location
- review scores value
After analyzing the scores for each of the review categories, below are the names of the top 10 properties with the highest rating for each of the markets:
Seattle Market
- Ballard Garden Apartment
- Capitol Hill Gem in Great Location
- Cherry Hill Cozy, Budget Loft-Bed
- Comfortable Green Lake Home Base
- Cozy City Bedroom and Den
- Maiden Mansion — Tiny House
- Private bed/bath in Ballard
- Ravenna apartment near UW
- Studio apartment-West Seattle
- Walking distance to Greenlake
Boston Market
- Private Room in a One Family House
- “La Gemma” — a gem in the North End
- “Room with a View” from “Top of the Hill”
- “The Sheridan” JP, Boston
- “Tranquility” on “Top of the Hill”
- “#great location #modern living”
- $155* L@@K* Cozy Studio Suite! 1.5 miles to center
- $195 Special! **Sunny** Penthouse Duplex!! L@@K
- $99 Special! Hotel Alternative!
- (J1) Private Room near Harvard/MIT
Conclusion
Traveling is a great way to explore the world and it opens our eyes to new experiences. Both Boston and Seattle seem like great places to visit and with average rental prices of $158 and $107 respectively, one can find a relatively inexpensive rental property through Airbnb. I hope you enjoyed this exploration of Airbnb rentals for Boston and Seattle and take a look at Airbnb when you book your next vacation.
