NumbercrunchingrevealsbesttimetobookonAirbnb

Many online travel agencies and search engines claim to know when is the best time to book a flight (with the answer often varying wildly).

If nothing else (forget about the accuracy of such forecasting), it’s a good marketing exercise to lure people to a site to, well, look for a flight.

But very little research has been carried out to try and understand the mechanics behind booking schedules and rates on Airbnb, the global property-sharing monster.

My Property Host, a property management and concierge service for Airbnb properties, tracked details across 55,000 properties in London on Airbnb to try and figure out when is the optimum time for guests to secure a property on the site.

The analysis was based on the best combination of choice and competitive prices.

The company mapped asking prices from hosts with levels of occupancy to identify what it calls the “sweet spot” for potential guests.