Maryland homeowners that rented their property on Airbnb this year generated about $57 million in income, according to the company.
About 6,500 Marylanders have used the home-sharing website this year to rent individual rooms or entire spaces to about 383,000 visitors, the San Francisco-based company said in a news release Monday.
Residents who use Airbnb to generate supplemental income averaged about $5,600 in 2018, the release states.
The figures come on the heels of Baltimore City Council’s decision this month to impose a strict set of rules on renting out property on Airbnb and other online platforms. Some proprietors of hotels and traditional bed-and-breakfasts pushed for the legislation, arguing that Airbnb provided an unfair loophole to city licensing requirements and a 9.5 percent hotel tax.
The tax on Airbnb and other online short-term rentals is expected to generate an addition $1 million in revenue for the city annually. The legislation does include a grandfather clause that would allow existing hosts to rent their home plus one other property.
Meanwhile, Airbnb reported its best quarter ever in November, despite U.S. cities having tightened regulations on the short-term rental market.
Baltimore Sun reporter Ian Duncan contributed to this article.
