Would you rent your spare room to a complete stranger?

Would you roll out the welcome mat to strangers in your home via an app?

Increasingly, Australians are saying yes.

Whether as a sweet side hustle or financial lifeline, private room rentals are coming back in vogue on popular short-term rental sites.

New data reveals that the average number of rooms listed on Airbnb and Vrbo is slowly climbing again, after nosediving during the pandemic.

City slickers are driving the trend, with Brisbane and Sydney experiencing the biggest year-on-year growth since 2024, AirDNA analysis has found.

Across Australia, 16,463 private and shared rooms were available last month, up from a September low of 12,232 three years ago (2022).

AirDNA director of economics Bram Gallagher says while room listings had halved since 2019, there were signs of a modest rebound in the six top markets.

“Since the beginning of 2024, the growth rate on a 12-trailing month basis has been higher for private/shared rooms, signalling that proportion is now growing,” he says.

“All of Australia’s big cities have relatively high proportions of private rooms, while rural areas have more total home rentals.”

Dr Thomas Sigler, associate professor of geography at the University of Queensland, says there was no doubt that financial pressures were the main driver.

“People are ‘softening the blow’ from mortgages and rent, and cost of living has really bitten,” he says.

“I also think there’s a certain openness amongst Gen Y and Gen Z to share, given persistent cost-of-living pressure. I suspect they are renting rooms either for special events or when they themselves travel.”

But he didn’t believe the trend signalled a return to the early days of Airbnb, when rooms accounted for about 30-35 per cent of listings.

“First of all, I think people use other platforms for finding flatmates, and these are typically more permanent arrangements,” he says. 

“The use case for Airbnb has also changed, so  it went from being a sharing platform to essentially being like a hotel-like booking site.”

He also pointed to moves towards the ‘professionalisation of hosting’ – such as property managers taking over from amateur “hosts” – who were more interested in filling entire properties than rooms.

From Aussie chefs to Argentinian backpackers, Prateek Kathuria never knows who will join him on the couch at night.

His modern townhouse in St Kilda attracts a steady stream of Airbnb guests from around the world, often keen for a chat, a beer or some television.

He operates his listing much like a sharehouse, with guests given access to communal areas such as the kitchen, bathroom and living area.

Kathuria, 39, keeps any valuables secured in his locked bedroom, and says he has never had a problem.

“It was a bit of a casual thought at the start, that some good money on the side would be really helpful,” the financial consultant says.

“I started doing it in January and have had some really good experiences.

“It probably wouldn’t work for most people but I have travelled a fair bit in my life, and am very adaptable and flexible.”

He earns between $1800 and $2000 a month from his second bedroom, a welcome income stream during an extended break from work.

When speaking to Domain, he’d just helped a chef settle in for the night: “I might learn a couple of new dishes!”

Kathuria has had a positive experience renting out his spare room for short stays.

“I’ve had a good bunch of people coming in, often for events in St Kilda, or the Formula 1 … two months ago, I had someone who was setting up a new church,” he says.

“You meet people from different backgrounds and you get to hear different perspectives.”

Kathuria He enjoys the flexibility of short-stay rentals – he can pick and choose when he wants to rent his spare room – unlike if he were leasing the room to a long-term flatmate. 

But it was important to set clear guidelines for guests regarding areas such as cleanliness, pets, and the level of interaction hosts can offer.

So far, he’s on a roll with a five-star rating.