Source: AFP
Parisians looking to make a fortune renting out their apartments to tourists visiting the French capital for the Olympics have been left disappointed as prices plummet closer to the start of the Games.
A month before the opening ceremony, many say they were forced to drop their prices dramatically to attract tenants, while others gave up altogether.
After listing her apartment on the short-term rental site Airbnb, real estate agent Giulia, 28, “could already imagine the bundles of cash we could go on vacation with.”
But the lucrative reservation he dreamed of never materialized.
In January, Julia was asking an “excessive” 550 euros ($588) a night to rent her place in the working-class 18th arrondissement of northern Paris.
“After that, it dropped to 350, then 250, and still nobody,” he told AFP.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/bf1cc71f85183037.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/bf1cc71f85183037.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Yen weakens further to focus on Tokyo, Asian shares rise
It was only when he dropped the price to €160 — just €30 above the normal price for July and August — that a booking came in from an American woman booking her apartment for a fortnight.
Although not as much as he had hoped, “it will allow us to have a good holiday,” he said.
Advertising executive Adrien Coucaud was not so lucky.
He decided to entrust his apartment in eastern Paris, where he lives alone, to a concierge service so that he can receive tourists while he goes on vacation.
But that experience — which he admits was fueled by greed — quickly turned sour.
The concierge service has set prices too high to attract bookings between July 26 and August 11, when the Olympics will be in full swing.
When he tried to contact the concierge service, no one answered.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/e897eb1482f416ea.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/e897eb1482f416ea.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Trump says inflation is ‘killing our country’ under Biden
Even after taking control of the listing again and lowering the price to €166 a night, he couldn’t find any buyers.
“At that point I put an end to that effort,” Coucaud confided, adding that he was “disgusted” by the experience.
No golden goose egg
The failure of rental prices to match Parisian dreams is likely due to the fact that many of the residents of the French capital have the same idea at the same time.
While they did rise significantly at the start of the year, they have since retreated — unsurprisingly since early Paris.
“We kind of saw it coming,” Barbara Gomes, who is in charge of regulating furnished tourist accommodation in the capital, told AFP.
“There was inflation at the beginning, with a lot of fantasizing about the rental prices that could be charged during the Games,” the Communist Party politician said.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/9326f5b1033af254.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/9326f5b1033af254.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Asian markets fluctuate after Wall St bounces back on inflation
But that followed a slump attributed to a wave of Parisians renting out their empty accommodation while on holiday, coupled with a glut of hotel rooms.
The councilor added that she was “careful” to ensure compliance with Paris regulations, which make it very difficult to rent accommodation that is not a main residence.
While short-term rentals are heavily regulated in France, that hasn’t deterred Parisians from trying to cash in.
“As expected, the increase in supply available during the Games regulates prices,” Airbnb told AFP, declining to give details.
Despite this, the US-based tourism rental giant said that “Paris 2024 is on track to become the biggest event in Airbnb’s history”.
“Nights booked in the first quarter for stays during the Games period were more than five times higher than in the Paris region during the same period last year,” it added.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/9209973206d3c46c.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/9209973206d3c46c.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Indians march to end ‘slavery’ after worker’s death shocks Italy
But for many Parisians, the problem is that “of the 15 million tourists, 13 million are French,” said Raphael Lorin, the chairman of specialist luxury tourist rental group Archides.
He pointed out that French people attending the Olympics are more likely to stay with friends and family.
“On the other hand, foreigners can be people with very big budgets who are customers of very high-end hotels,” Lorin added.
“For anything at the lower or middle end of the market, there is no goose that lays the golden egg.”
Source: AFP