The numbers behind short-term rentals. Rates, occupancy, demand, fees, supply and returns, every figure traced to its source.

Features

The long read

One market or one operator at a time, told through the figures its governments, platforms and companies publish. Each feature carries its photographs, its tables and its sources.

A dense spread of apartment towers seen from above, with a lagoon on the left, a steep rock hill in the middle distance and a curving sandy beach and the ocean on the right.

Photograph by Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.Market report · ReturnsForeign Buyers in Rio's South Zone by the NumbersNo official body counts foreign buyers in Rio de Janeiro. The shares that have been published cover single brokers and developers, mostly for new studios near the beach. Here is each one, with the prices, yields, taxes and exchange rate around it.By Callum Reid · 11 October 2026 · 20 min read

Aerial view of a coastline with several large resort hotels, pools, red-roofed condominiums, golf fairways and housing behind crescent sand beaches and dark blue sea.

Photograph by Ekrem Canli, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Market report · OccupancySouth Maui Vacation Rentals in 2026 by the NumbersThe state counted 137,414 vacation rental unit nights in Wailea/Kīhei in August 2026 and found 42.8% of them sold. A four-condo host in North Kīhei gives the scale; state, county and university figures give the market.By Amara Osei · 11 October 2026 · 19 min read

A round stone windmill tower beside a wooden boardwalk with a covered bar and tables, boats tied alongside and yachts in the harbor behind, under a blue sky with clouds.

Photograph by CaptJayRuffins, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Market report · ReturnsSt. Croix Against St. Thomas and St. John in Villa and Home-Price NumbersSt. Croix took about a fifth of the U.S. Virgin Islands' air arrivals in 2025 and has outgrown the St. Thomas district since May 2026. Government tables, vendor estimates and one 13-home manager show how far apart the islands are.By Ruth Okafor · 11 October 2026 · 20 min read

View from a hill over a golf course with ponds and white low-rise buildings to a bay of turquoise water with many moored sailboats, and rounded green hills along the coast beyond.

Photograph by Jason P. Heym, Seascape Pool Center, Inc. (Jpheym), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Market report · SupplySt. Croix's Winter in Numbers for Villas and HotelsSt. Croix received 185,349 air visitors in 2025 and filled half its hotel rooms. A new Newark flight starts on 31 October while a 150-room resort is closed for a rebuild due in late 2027. A twelve-guest villa shows how one rental's terms sit inside the figures.By Sunita Rao · 11 October 2026 · 20 min read

Drone view of a white single-storey house with a pale tile roof, a gravel yard and juniper trees under pink sunset clouds; low hills glow orange behind, and a dark metal building with roof panels sits at the right edge.

Market report · RatesThe Arithmetic of an Indoor Pickleball Court at a Sedona RentalA four-bedroom rental in West Sedona has a private indoor pickleball court in a building of its own. The public figures around it cover rates, occupancy, seasons, law, taxes and demand. The inputs that decide payback are held by the owners alone.By Theo Lindqvist · 11 October 2026 · 19 min read