A paper by professors Nicole Gurran and Peter Phibbs at the University of Sydney shows in the Waverley council area – which include Sydney's popular beach suburbs Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama – there are 821 Airbnb listings of entire homes that are available for 90 days or more, compared to an average of 232 vacant rental homes.

In the City of Sydney there are 1268 listings of such Airbnb homes, compared to an average of 876 vacant rental homes.

The analysis also shows Airbnb landlords in these areas earn as much as traditional landlords, even though the Airbnb properties are likely to be occupied less frequently.

According to the data, Waverley landlords earned an average of $2947 a month for letting out entire homes on Airbnb, compared to the median rent of $2920 a month. In Sydney CBD, landlords earned an average of $2866 a month on Airbnb compared to the median rent of $2960 a month.

The analysis is based on the data from Inside Airbnb from early 2016 and assumes a 2 per cent rental vacancy rate. The paper is due be published in a forthcoming edition of the Journal of the American Planning Association.

Professor Gurran said Airbnb appears to be absorbing vacant rental supply in popular inner-city suburbs.

"Inner-city suburbs face a very high housing demand already and the amount of Airbnb stock in suburbs like Bondi Junction and Surry Hills seems to be actually higher than the rental vacancies available at any one time. Airbnb listings are competing with permanent rental supply," she said.


She said the number of entire homes available on Airbnb in inner-city areas appears to be enough to have a significant impact on the rental supply which could put pressure on rents.

But Airbnb Australia country manager Sam McDonagh said the typical host in NSW earns a "modest" income of roughly $4700 a year.

"Overwhelmingly these are everyday people – mums and dads, seniors," he said.

The Grattan Institute found in April that long-term tenants have "clearly been displaced" from the inner-city beachside suburbs where up to 15 per cent of homes are listed on short-term stay platforms such as Airbnb.

However, the think tank concluded any rental increase caused by the rise of short-stay rentals was likely to be "localised or small" because the 25,000 Sydney bedrooms listed on Airbnb comprise only about 2 per cent of Sydney's rental housing capacity.

But Professor Gurran said even that 2 per cent could influence permanent rental supply in Sydney's inner suburbs, where the rental vacancy rate is as low as 2 per cent.

Airbnb started as a home-sharing platform allowing people to rent out their spare bedroom or granny flat.

But now, more than 60 per cent of properties listed on Airbnb in Sydney are entire homes rather than private or shared rooms, according to Inside Airbnb.


Nearly 30 per cent of Airbnb hosts in Sydney have multiple listings, which suggests they are likely to be property investors who list properties which would otherwise be available for long-term tenancy.

In San Francisco and New York, regulators have put a cap on the maximum number of days properties can be rented out on Airbnb, in an attempt to crack down on commercial landlords who limit housing supply and drive up rent.

Sambrook said he opted for Airbnb because he wanted to maximise the benefits of owning a property in Sydney's most popular tourist suburb.

"It helps being in Sydney where the weather is always good, although I have not had a proper winter experience yet," he said.

"I thought about it from the point of someone coming to Australia and thought, 'Where do I want to stay'? Demand is very strong in suburbs like Bondi."

Since he switched three months ago, the net return has been about 10 per cent higher and his property occupied four or five days a week.

Sambrook uses HeyTom, a property management start-up that looks after everything from guest booking to cleaning for a 20 per cent commission. (A real estate agent typically charges landlords an 8 per cent commission.)