Airbnb reveals Aussie hosts earn up to $3000 per month

As Aussies are embracing domestic travel, Airbnb hosts are rolling out their welcome mats and turning their homes into income engines.

Aussie Airbnb hosts are earning up to around $3000 a month, with many using that income to pay for rising living costs like their mortgage, electricity bills and car registration.

The average Sydney host earns around $3041 per month, while hosts in Adelaide are raking in $2430 a month, $2276 in NSW holiday destination Jervis Bay, $2178 in Melbourne, $2173 in Brisbane, and $2072 in Perth on average, new data from Airbnb reveals.

Airbnb host Greg Dickins, who rents out rooms in his inner-west Sydney home in Petersham and investment property in the Blue Mountains, said Airbnb has helped get him and his family out of financial strife.

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Airbnb hosts are earning up to $3000 a month in Australia. Picture: Getty Images

“After going through a tough financial period in 2015, we turned to Airbnb to lease out two rooms of our Sydney home and our entire Blue Mountains investment property,” he explained.

Mr Dickins, a journalist and father-of-five, said work dried up for him, and while his wife was working as a teacher, it wasn’t enough money to keep paying two mortgages and afford all the household expenses.

“It was difficult to get the money together. I was able to put my home in Sydney on Airbnb and that brought in a steady income,” he told news.com.au.

He and his wife thought about selling their investment property to cover their expenses but he was “really glad we didn’t have to” as the house had been in the family a long time.

“Airbnb quickly became a significant source of our family’s income, allowing us to finance our mortgages and keep us afloat during a difficult few years,” he said.

Greg Dickins said he was able to pay his two mortgages with Airbnb. Picture: Julian Andrews

Not willing to discuss exactly how much money the Airbnb hosting brought in for them, he said they managed to pay their two mortgages and expenses from being hosts.

While COVID-19 added a spanner in the works, with many hosts forced to stop renting out rooms and houses for social distancing reasons, Mr Dickins said their financial situation had improved by then.

He said they’re using the excess funds to renovate their Blue Mountains home for future Airbnb guests.

“With the lack of international travel, lots of places in the Blue Mountains have been booked out,” he said.

Mr Dickins and his family have welcomed strangers in their home and holiday home and even his youngest daughter, who’s 21 and still lives at home, has enjoyed the experience of meeting new people.

“We’ve had no problem with it,” he said. “We’ve had incredibly interesting people from all over the world.”

With the Easter break approaching, Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb’s country manager for Australia and New Zealand, said there’s been a surge in demand for Aussies to list their house, spare room or beach shack on Airbnb.

Mr Dickins resorted to renting out his home in Sydney and investment property in the Blue Mountains on Airbnb to pay the mortgages. Picture: Julian Andrews

“At a time when Aussies are displaying such incredible enthusiasm for exploring their own backyard, there’s never been a better time to host on Airbnb,” she said.

“Hosting allows people to take typically their most significant asset – their own home – and turn it into an income engine that can combat costs of living, fund family getaways and help secure their financial future.”

Airbnb hosts rent out a range of properties, including entire apartments and homes, private rooms, yurts, tree houses, and farm stays.

“You’re in full control of your availability, prices, house rules, and how you interact with guests and each and every reservation is covered for free,” Ms Wheeldon said.

Airbnb recently launched its ‘What’s My Place Worth’ tool where hosts can calculate their potential monthly income.

The tool allows users to input their location, type of space they’re considering renting and the size of the property, then factors in Airbnb booking data to compute an estimated monthly income.

Interestingly, among Aussie guests, searches made with the “allows pets” filter have increased by over 50 per cent since January 2021 compared to the same time period last year.