This article is from AirDNA -- There’s no sugar-coating it: The past few weeks have exposed weakness in the American economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) declined during the first quarter of 2022, and the major U.S. stock indices lost between 15% and 30% of their value since Jan. 1.
However, when looking at performance in the short-term rental (STR) industry over the past month, there are still lots of reasons for optimism.
Most key STR performance indicators in April greatly exceed previous records, and growth continues to look strong over previous periods. But similar to last month, some weakness is showing in select figures when compared to 2021, which was a record year for the industry.
When it comes to GDP, the headline figure was down mainly because of an increase in exports and a decrease in government spending. Despite these developments, spending on personal consumption (such as goods and services) was actually up 2.7% during Q1, which was the highest rate of growth in the past three quarters. The other key indicator is jobs; and in April, the U.S. added 428,000 jobs, which should support further income growth and consumption as we head into the summer.