A Lisbon story: short-term rental platforms and the housing market

Throughout Europe, many mayors have argued that house rental platforms such as Airbnb price locals out of city housing. Lisbon is an interesting case study on how to regulate this market. The median real estate price per square meter in the city increased more than 70% between the first quarter of 2016 and the last quarter of 2019. The number of overnight stays in Lisbon reached more than 11 million in 2019, about 20 times its resident population. João Pereira dos Santos writes about the causal impact of short-term rental regulations on the housing market and suggests policy implications.