REPORT: Airbnb price gouging could cost Boston Marathon runners and supporters thousands

Airbnb’s egregious price gouging continues – this time in Boston, Massachusetts around the annual Boston Marathon. At its worst, some properties are seeing a nearly 2,400 percent increase in rates – with the highest prices jumping nearly $2,000 extra per night!

Read our full report here – and the latest from the Boston Herald on the issue, below:

Report: Airbnb Rates Run Up

The Boston Herald

March 13, 2018

Boston, MA – A new report accuses Boston Airbnb hosts of jacking up prices by as much as $1,900 for people looking for a place to stay for the Boston Marathon, but the short-term rental website claims authors are biased and cherry-picked atypical listings.

The report by AirbnbWATCH claims an apartment in downtown Boston, which is normally rented for $77 per night, was listed at $2,000 per night for the weekend before the April 16 marathon.

A condominium that typically rented for $119 per night also was listed at $2,000 nightly for the same weekend, the group said, while a condo that ordinarily rented for $89 per night was listed at $1,200.

“The facts in this report not only dismiss Airbnb’s false claims that their hosts don’t price gouge, but also showcase that their bad actors aren’t true home sharers; they are commercial Airbnb hosts who are running de facto hotels, disrupting communities, and taking housing stock off the market for long-term residents,” AirbnbWATCH spokeswoman Lauren Windsor wrote in an email.

City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who represents the North End, Charlestown and East Boston, said, “This kind of price-gouging is exactly why we want to regulate Airbnb and at the same time balance the interests of people who are just trying to pay their mortgage” by renting out a room or an apartment in their home for short amounts of time.

Read more from the Boston Herald