There was a time when she would refresh the Airbnb app obsessively, watching and hoping that more booking slots would fill.
“But we gave up,” the short term rental owner told The Citizen. “Now, it’s just a matter of getting out with as little damage as possible.”
Like many AirBnB proprietors in St. Augustine, she bought during the euphoric COVID-era gold rush — lured by sky-high demand, low interest rates, and the sparkle of passive income.
Instead, she’s now staring down a loss of at least $115,000 — if she’s lucky. “Every price cut makes it worse,” she told The Citizen. “You just keep thinking to yourself, How low can this actually go? It’s a really difficult situation.”
In St. Augustine’s 32084 ZIP code — especially in the tourist-heavy historic district — listings that once thrived on Airbnb are now debouching onto listing sites.
Most follow the same arc: purchased before 2023, briefly operated as Airbnbs, and now re-listed — either as long-term rentals or for sale.
For many, the ensuing pattern has become a familiar one. Rentals fail to fetch the asking price and are cut until they no longer make financial sense.
Then the property is listed for sale — most often at Pollyannaish prices.
More and more owners are now gnawing the bullet, listing homes for near or less than what they paid — hoping to stem deeper losses.
A Moore Street AirBnB that sold for $505,000 in April of 2023 is now on the market for just $440,000 and still has yet to move.
A Philip Street home that sold for $300,000 in 2022 and was renovated for AirBnB use is now back on the market and staying there despite several price cuts.
The listing first appeared in March of 2024 for $395,000, before being lowered to $299,000 last week. It remains unsold.
An Oneida Street AirBnB that transacted for $710,000 in September 2022 is now on the shelf for $660,000 nearly three years later.
For some, foreclosure looms. With both short- and long-term rental income falling far short of covering mortgage payments — especially on homes bought during the overheated pandemic market — the math is mortifying.
“It’s not quite a crisis yet,” a longtime local broker told The Citizen, “but we’re getting there. And people are licking their chops on the sidelines. They’re just waiting to see how steep this can drop. The same giddiness you had for sellers when things were flying, you’re starting to see that on the other end now.”
What changed? For one, the tourism surge that fueled Airbnb’s rise cooled. Meanwhile, new hotel developments have increased room supply — offering predictable rates and amenities that can draw guests away from short-term rentals.
Compounding matters, interest rates have jumped, and the number of Airbnb listings ballooned well beyond sustainable demand.
Early promise, many owners now concede, has given way to reality and regret.
“You go from seeing independence within reach to it now being way out there, even farther than before,” the same owner said. “Bookings dried up, and suddenly we were stuck with this huge payment and very little coming in.”
