The number of Myrtle Beach Airbnbs has exploded in recent years. What does this mean?

Myrtle Beach has always been a large vacation destination, with tourists from across the country coming to relax during the summer. A major part of the vacation economy here is rental housing.

Short-term rentals, generally privately owned properties offered for customers to stay at via platforms like Airbnb have had massive growth in Myrtle Beach and Horry County.

Airbnb has been at the forefront of this growth in the area and this has created concern for Reventure Consulting CEO Nick Gerli, who says the Airbnb supply has grown too big, which the rental company disputes.

In June 2023 Gerli tweeted that revenue per property in several cities has dramatically dropped. Myrtle Beach had the fourth biggest fall, according to Gerli with a 45 percent fall in revenue.

Gerli, who used third-party data from the data firm AllTheRooms, says the increase in the supply of Airbnbs in Myrtle Beach was the chief cause of the alleged losses and could have disastrous consequences.

“I think it’s very over-saturated,” Gerli said in an email to The Sun News. “There’s 3x more Airbnb listings in Horry County than homes for sale. Prior to the pandemic, the ratio was 1:1. The slowdown in tourism is not the main culprit in Airbnb revenue declines for owners - it’s supply.”

Airbnb did not want to speak for this story.

While there is disagreement about how well Airbnb hosts are doing in 2023, most Myrtle Beach Airbnb hosts said their revenue and occupancy levels are good but down compared to 2022. Rentals weren’t being reserved as quickly as in previous years and some hosts changed prices frequently to ensure their rentals were booked.

All eight Myrtle Beach Airbnb hosts were either highly rated or super hosts and had different types of rentals, but most said 2023 was not as strong as 2022.

Myrtle Beach Airbnb hosts made less money in 2023

Don Robinson joined the platform in 2022 and has one townhome close to the beach located on 17th Avenue South listed on Airbnb and VRBO. Initially the family vacation home, Robinson purchased the property in February 2022 and became a super host in eight months.

“I had no knowledge of what I was doing,” Robinson said. “So the first weekend, boom, it hits and there’s somebody wanting to book it. And it’s booking on both (Airbnb and VRBO)“

Other hosts had something similar happen to them. Lijun Chen has three Airbnbs in Myrtle Beach, including a beachfront condo, and joined the website in 2015. She said she saw an uptick in business in 2022 compared to 2021.

“All of a sudden everyone had a lot of money and all the people are traveling,” Lijun Chen said. “So last year was pretty good. Early last year, we started to see very promising trends.”

Tracey McLaughlin owns a bed and breakfast in Sumter, South Carolina, and has a beachfront one-bedroom condo with access to a hot tub listed on Airbnb. A super host who joined the platform in 2022, McLaughlin said 2023 is not as good a year for business.

‘I think it is down a little bit,” she said.

McLaughlin had to lower her prices this year to get reservations. Despite being fully booked in June, July and three-quarters of August, she hasn’t received any for the fall yet.

“Normally, we already have some bookings in October and September,” McLaughlin said. “I noticed that there are still for August, say 20th to the 26th for a week, just in that little small South Myrtle Beach area, a 1,000 condos that were not booked. That was kind of interesting because August is still high (vacation) season.”

Some owners have also had to change prices frequently to get bookings. Jenny and Chet Chen own a pastel blue house, with access to a pool and close to the beach they list on Airbnb in Myrtle Beach. The Chens, who are also super hosts, joined Airbnb in 2016 and say revenue is down 5-10 percent from 2022. Chet Chen added he had to keep prices flexible to stay competitive.

McLaughlin added that her Airbnb took much longer to book this year than before.

“I have noticed that people aren’t booking out far in advance,” she said. “I only had two weeks of July booked. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what do I do? That’s my bread and butter right there.’ Then all of sudden, about three weeks ahead of time, those two weeks booked back to back.”

Lijun Chen said that people booked her property much later than usual too.

“June and July August these three months are the best season. We rely on the three (months) to make a profit for the entire year,” Lijun Chen said. “But this year very late in April in May we still had a lot of the empty spots.”

But not everyone said they were seeing a drop in revenue or occupancy. Miller Turner began hosting her own townhouse a short walk from the beach on Airbnb in September 2019 and manages three others. Turner, who’s been a super host since 2016 said business is good and 2023 revenue is about the same as 2022.

“We’re doing great,” she said.

Turner added that bookings for her rental were also delayed this year.

“That causes concern. But you’ve gotta be patient, especially earlier in the season,” Turner said. “There are always people that are here, and they want to extend their vacation. If you can accommodate those people, you will fill your calendar up.”

Patricia Mundy’s Airbnb is a popular, pet-friendly property in Surfside Beach a short walk from the ocean. A former travel agent who joined the platform in 2019, Mundy said her accommodating location has performed about the same in 2023 compared to 2022.

“I haven’t seen any decrease in revenue,” Mundy said. “It’s stayed booked just about 100 percent right now.”

Robinson has actually had an increase in revenue this year compared to 2022 and even raised prices.

The Chamber of Commerce and CVB lodging for the week of July 2-8 revenue per room was down 2 percent from 2022 but up 44 percent compared to 2019 for short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO.

New Myrtle Beach Airbnb hosts might be in trouble

The slowdown in business for some Airbnb hosts could be worse than what’s reported and a sign of rockier waters in the future, according to Gerli.

Gerli added in an interview with CNBC that many brand-new Airbnb owners took out loans predicated on a property’s ability to generate a certain level of income, which could lead to default if revenue falls. He also said that while Airbnb as a company will be fine, hosts and individual hosts will take the brunt of the slowdown.

“Many of the individual owners who bought into the Airbnb market over the last 2-3 years are also struggling mightily,” he added in an email to The Sun News. ”I could see a combination of a ‘reset’ and ‘full-on crash’ play out, depending on the market. Some short-term rental owners and companies won’t be very impacted. Others will go out of business.”

Host Don Robinson took out a mortgage to help pay for the property. Robinson said he got his mortgage before interest rates went up, and his revenue covers his expenses.

Lijun Chen also took out mortgages to buy their Airbnbs but says she is not close to defaulting. Others said they paid in cash.

Short-term rentals in Myrtle Beach by the numbers

In January 2019 more than 4,000 short-term rentals were available in Myrtle Beach, according to AirDNA, a short-term rental data analytics firm.

In July 2023 more than 12,000 properties were available in Myrtle Beach, according to AirDNA.

There are even more short-term rentals in Horry County. Close to 29,000 are available, according to data compiled by the firm KeyData for The Chamber of Commerce and CVB, who track it via their joint weekly lodging metrics dashboard.

Airbnb and VRBO have about the same number of properties in Horry County, but Airbnb’s listings have grown by nearly 56 percent compared to this past year.

More than 13,700 Airbnbs were available in Horry County during July 2023 compared to 8,806 in January 2022, according to KeyData. During the same period, VRBO had more than 14,800 listings in July 2023 compared to 14,100 listings in January 2022.

Properties can be listed on multiple websites so the dashboard number could have overlap. Data from AirDNA shows cross booking on multiple platforms has grown in popularity recently.

In January 2019, 33 percent of short-term rental properties were offered by Airbnb, according to AirDNA data. In June 2023, Airbnbs made up 30 percent of the market. While VRBO’s percentage of total listings has fallen in the same time frame, properties being listed on both platforms now make up 40 percent of all rental options compared to 20 percent in January 2019.

Regardless of overlap, Myrtle Beach has some of the most short-term rentals and Airbnbs available compared to other popular vacation locations, according to AirDNA.

• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has 12,044 active short-term rentals listed, 32 percent being Airbnbs.

• Miami Beach, Florida has 6,881 active short-term rentals listed, 61 percent being Airbnbs.

• Panama City Beach, Florida has 14,930 active short-term rentals listed, 22 percent being Airbnbs.

• Virginia Beach, Virginia has 2,293 active short-term rentals listed, 45 percent being Airbnbs

• Daytona Beach, Florida has 3,622 active short-term rentals listed, 44 percent being Airbnbs