A market analytics firm specializing in calculating Airbnb revenue blames an algorithm error for incorrectly stating a Vancouver home earned $133,000 in rental income last year.
CTV Vancouver published a story on March 2 using Airdna data highlighting some of the city's highest earning Airbnb properties, including homes and apartments it said made well over $100,000.
But the owner of the home ranked number one in the analytical data contacted CTV News to say the report overstated his rental income by almost $100,000 – claiming his own records show he took in approximately $34,000 for short-term rentals in the past 12 months.
The homeowner said he had only rented out his entire home a handful of times while his family was on vacation – but he often rented out the home's basement suite and individual bedrooms at a much lower nightly rate.
When contacted by CTV News, Airdna said an investigation by its data team revealed that the home was added to the highest earners list erroneously.
Press Officer Abigail Long said in an email the error occurred because the Airbnb host rents out several rooms in the home, including a basement suite, in the listing.
"His particular profile tricked our algorithm into concluding that he was renting out his whole house for those times, thus putting him at one of the top earners in Canada," she wrote.
"We apologize for the mistake and for any inconvenience caused."
With the exception of licensed bed and breakfast properties, short-term rentals are illegal in Vancouver, although the city says it’s working on a plan to bring in a licensing framework.
Airdna said it is confident in its data, and while it said its CEO was not available for an interview, it released a statement saying: "These situations rarely occur." You can read more about Airdna's methodology here.
