Short-Term Rentals And The Swedish Housing Market : An Empirical Investigation of Airbnb's Impact On Property Prices

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how short-term rental (STR) activity, proxied by Airbnb listing intensity, affects housing prices in Sweden. Using municipality-level monthly data from 2014 to 2019, merged with Airbnb activity measures, the analysis employs pooled OLS, fixed effects, and then a Bartik-style instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity. While OLS suggests a positive association, fixed effects models reveal no significant relationship after controlling for time-invariant factors. The IV estimates indicate a significant positive effect, implying Airbnb growth may increase housing prices in the Swedish context. A heterogeneity analysis explores differences across rural, mixed, and metropolitan municipalities. The findings highlight the importance of robust methods in STR research and contribute new evidence from the Swedish housing market. Policy implications and directions for future research on supply dynamics and rental markets are discussed.