Pricing, Policy, and Tourism Impacts in Global Corporate Housing - Q3 2023

Dwellworks Living manages over 10,000 booked reservations in corporate housing every year and delivers temporary living program solutions for the relocation and business travel needs of hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies. On a quarterly basis, we update average daily rates (ADRs) in key bellwether cities and provide insights from local experts on the trends we’re watching. Read on for the pricing, policy, and tourism trends Dwellworks Living is keeping an eye on, and the country we’re deeming a top “Corporate Housing Hotspot” in the third quarter of 2023.

Pricing Trends: Less Volatility, More Predictability

Benchmarked to rates a year ago, ADRs look remarkably stable, which may be a surprise to relocation/travel managers since so many other costs have gone up. This is thanks to a flattening out of the volume volatility from last year and an increased balance in supply and demand versus the scarcity challenges of 2022. Last year’s pricing reflected the reality of demand exceeding supply in every major market in Europe and most markets in the US and Canada. In APAC there was limited-to-no activity in major business destinations last year. Singapore was an exception as the market of choice for huge influxes of short-term stays as employers and their expatriates reconsidered their long-term plans for China and Hong Kong. 

In 2023, corporate demand is less intense in many markets, supply has expanded, requests for higher cost ‘emergency placements’ are dialed back, and companies are expense conscious in a still-unsettled global economy. All these factors ‘normalized’ rates but did not sharply decrease them. This is a stark contrast to the ‘gate crashing’ volumes of 2022, which were, unfortunately, further increased by the need to provide housing and humanitarian support to 10 million refugee families from Ukraine, all over a few months’ time. All in, the business travel trend is a steady climb back to 2019 volumes, but the general assessment is that this year’s numbers reflect about 60% of pre-pandemic activity. In synch with relocation and business travel’s rebuild trajectory, corporate housing bookings are steady in 2023, not swinging erratically. Pricing reflects the usual market influences, especially interest rates and inflation, versus the exaggerated drivers of a year ago.

Below are ADR trends in select key markets at the start of the third quarter. Dwellworks Living tracks data on a rolling 12 months basis.

City                                   Pricing vs. Q3 2022        Booking Trend vs. Q3 2022

New York                                 up                                           higher             

Vancouver                          unchanged                                lower

Dublin                                unchanged                                lower

London                                     up                                        higher

Hong Kong                               up                                        higher             

Singapore                                up                                         lower

Policy Trends: Expect Stricter Short-Term Rental Regulations

In addition to monitoring new construction, general property availability, and new operators entering the marketplace, Dwellworks Living is watching the general trend towards greater local governmental scrutiny, regulation, and taxation of short-term rentals. This is a broad category including everything from the well-established, professionally managed corporate housing units in our supply chain portfolio to the consumer-driven, largely unregulated options found more commonly on marketplaces and web platforms. For example, just last week, a New York City judge dismissed a lawsuit from Airbnb. The company tried to block an NYC law that requires hosts to register with a local regulatory agency. The judge’s dismissal was seen by New York City government as a win in its effort to eliminate illegal short-term rentals listings, something other cities across the US are also working on.

As regulators sift through definitions of the various operators in the short-term rental market, Dwellworks Living is allying with industry leaders like ASAP in the UK to support recognition of a distinct and valuable housing sector that is already highly compliant and supportive versus disruptive to local neighborhoods, businesses, and employers. On a practical level, additional regulation and taxation if enacted will increase supplier costs. The impact on suppliers across the entire short-term rental sector is yet to be determined and a topic we will discuss in a future Dwellworks Living report.

For now, we are pleased to report a good balance in supply and the capability to meet client requests for corporate housing with an average of six well-matched options per request, on par with pre-pandemic performance. This is a strong indicator that temporary living supply chains are back as is the underlying rental supply and will be watched carefully as other macro conditions evolve.

Tourism Trends: Leisure At Full Occupancy

Tourism is back in full force, as anyone who has traveled this summer can attest. Hotels have pivoted to support the leisure business as their core revenue source and many leisure travelers are also booking corporate apartments for their privacy, extra space, and lower overall cost compared to the built-in overhead of hotels. Tourists and leisure travel will likely significantly impact rental availability in Paris and much of France in the summer of 2024, for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As stated in our guide to corporate housing booking in France for 2024, Dwellworks Living recommends clients consider their temporary living needs as far in advance as possible.

Corporate Housing Hot Spot: India

Now the world’s most populous country and fifth largest economy, India is a strong intra-country as well as an international destination for employers enrolling their teams in training, project management, and complex global support services. Dwellworks Living has built a deep and broad supply chain across India in order to respond to growing client accommodations requests, ranging from functional dormitory-type living to executive villas. Read more about the accommodations we offer in India in this blog from our Director of Supply Chain in APAC, Devi Vibin, who toured many of them during a recent visit. All indicators are that India will only increase as a global travel, and therefore, a corporate housing key market.

For more information and insights on corporate housing trends, read our full report on APAC from Dawn Brandenburg, Director of Business Development, and our third quarter supply chain  update from our VP of Supply Chain, Debbie Woodley, and other articles in the Dwellworks Living blog.

Dwellworks Living: Global Solutions for Corporate Accommodations 

Dwellworks Living is committed to providing our clients and their employees with the best possible corporate housing and serviced accommodations experience. With a global network of property partners, a tri-regional team of customer experience and supply chain professionals, and a wide range of services for global mobility and travel customers, Dwellworks Living can provide the perfect corporate housing solution for any need or budget.

Dwellworks Living is the global corporate housing solution of Dwellworks, an award-winning, business-to-business provider of global mobility and business travel services. As a global leader in corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions, Dwellworks Living is uniquely positioned to meet the temporary living needs of businesses and their employees who are relocating or traveling on short-, medium- or extended-stays. With 60,000 high-quality professionally managed properties in over 125 countries worldwide, Dwellworks Living is the preferred housing solutions partner of many Fortune 1000 and leading relocation management companies.

Dwellworks Living's corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions are designed to help businesses attract and retain top talent, support employee productivity, and ensure a smooth and successful relocation or business travel experience. In addition to our core global accommodations management services, Dwellworks Living, through our worldwide network of local experts, is uniquely capable of offering our clients expanded and related services, such as area orientations, group move assistance, destination services and intercultural training.

Whether you have corporate housing needs for an individual employee or a large team, Dwellworks Living can provide the serviced accommodations solutions you need anywhere in the world to ensure a safe and successful stay. Please contact us to learn more or visit our Properties page to begin your search for global corporate housing accommodations.