This Week’s News & Insights

Your one-stop-shop for vacation rental success

Author

Dom Trovato
April 09, 2025

Good morning,

Here's what's going on in the vacation rental world this week:

Trump's new tariffs are set to hammer international tourism, Airbnb’s co-founder exits his Airbnb.org gig amid political drama, Vrbo’s rolling out slick AI tech to target travelers, and hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets as tourism-fueled housing costs push locals to the breaking point.

This week in the markets: major whiplash is going on as Trump’s tariff move briefly pushed rates down—until China fired back by dumping $50B in U.S. bonds, sending rates right back up while the S&P 500 heads toward bear market territory, creating a high-stakes standoff between the worlds two largest economies. Plus, major STR regulation changes are being discussed in Los Angeles, Maui, Houston, North Carolina, and Ireland.

Lets dive in. 

NEWS

Headline Roundup

  • Decoding Trump's Tariffs Impact on Vacation Rental Businesses (The Host Report)

  • Vrbo’s New AI-powered Personalized Marketing aims to attract more travelers. (PhocusWire)

  • Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia steps away from nonprofit after political heat, keeps side hustle in DOGE, Tesla, and NBA (The Host Report)

  •  Hundreds of thousands protest in Spain over Airbnb-fueled rent hikes—Barcelona vows permit crackdown (Sky News)

  • Morningstar slashes estimates for Airbnb, Expedia, Booking, and Tripadvisor as Trump's new tariffs hit travel stocks (Morningstar)

  • Study reveals 83% of short-term rental guests willing to pay premium for STRs with better reviews (Hospitality Net)

  •  Idaho Senate shoots down a bill aimed at deregulating short-term rentals in 11-23 vote (Boise Dev)

  • New Texas House bill would protect property owners by forcing cities to use proper legal tools when enforcing ordinances. (Chron)

  • Under Canvas expands its luxury outdoor portfolio to capitalize on the experience-driven travel trend  (The Host Report)

INVESTMENT INSIGHTS

Market Snapshot

Wow. What a roller coaster this week has been in the markets.

Mortgage rates swung wildly—driven mostly by President Trump’s tariff announcement last Wednesday. The move spooked investors, raised fears of a global recession, and triggered a rush to safer assets (people were selling stocks and buying bonds).

When more investors buy U.S. Treasury bonds for safety, the demand for these bonds goes up, and their yields (interest rates) go down. And since mortgage rates tend to follow bond yields, we saw mortgage rates drop, too (initially).

Here’s the bigger picture:

Its widely speculated that one of Trump’s primary goals is to push down 10-year Treasury bond rates. This would allow the U.S. to refinance its over $5 trillion in debt thats maturing this year at lower rates. That strategy could save U.S. taxpayers between $500 billion - $1 trillion in interest payments over the next decade.

A quick example:

  • If rates drop by 1%:
     $5T × 0.01 = $50B/year → $500B over 10 years

  • If rates drop by 2%:
     $5T × 0.02 = $100B/year → $1T over 10 years

From that lens, the tariff announcement worked—initially. Rates fell.

Then came the whiplash.

Trump publicly pressured Fed Chair Jerome Powell to further cut rates. But Powell held firm, saying the Fed would wait to see how tariffs impact the economy before making any changes.

Then China hit back.

In response to U.S. tariffs, China retaliated—both with tariffs of their own and by selling $50 billion in U.S. bonds. That sudden surge in supply overwhelmed demand and pushed bond yields (and mortgage rates) right back up. Look at this:

Just like that, rates are now higher than they were pre-announcement. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has dropped nearly 19%—dangerously close to bear market territory. It’s starting to feel like a high-stakes game of chicken between the world’s two largest economies.

What now?

In moments like these, it’s easy to get caught up in the noise. Don’t. Stick to the fundamentals, and stay alert for buying opportunities.

As Warren Buffett put it: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful."

Regulations Update

  • Los Angeles is now aggressively enforcing its 2018 ban on illegal short-term rentals—just ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics—threatening non-compliant hosts with the total loss of their listings.

  • Pinellas County (Florida), and Ruidoso (New Mexico) now require costly permits, strict occupancy limits, and even noise monitoring devices, significantly increasing operational overhead.

  • Over in Hawaii, Maui’s mayor has proposed a full Airbnb ban to combat post-wildfire housing shortages,

  • Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is now fining unlicensed property managers up to $2,650 per day.

  • Ireland is planning to reclaim thousands of short-term rentals for long-term housing by 2026.

  • Not all the news is bad: North Carolina’s Senate Bill 291 would protect STRs at the state level

See this weeks full regulations report here: (The Host Report)

EDUCATION

Featured Article

Factor in Easter’s calendar shift when looking at your numbers:

Last year, Easter landed on March 31st—giving March 2024 an artificial boost. This year, it falls on April 20th, which means March might look a little softer by comparison, and April should see a lift. Keep that in mind before drawing conclusions from year-over-year trends. Image source: Key Data

Additional Resources: