Can you still make money with Airbnb in Stockholm?

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Is Airbnb in Stockholm still making good money today?

Stockholm Airbnb can still generate strong revenue today, with current occupancy around 68% and average annual short-term-rental revenue close to $38,000 according to AirDNA.

AirDNA's latest completed market data puts the average daily rate at $181 and RevPAR at $121. Occupancy is up 9.1% year over year, while RevPAR is up 9.8%. Those two figures are more useful than the headline annual-revenue growth number because they show that available properties are filling more nights without owners having to slash prices.

The wider accommodation market looks healthy too. Stockholm County recorded almost 16 million commercial guest nights in 2025, its highest total on record. Stockholm Business Region expects another roughly 4% increase during 2026. Hotels also finished 2025 at about 70% occupancy, with record RevPAR of SEK 1,086.

So there is plenty of demand for short stays in Stockholm right now. The difficult part is whether an ordinary apartment owner can actually capture that demand consistently and keep enough of the revenue.

Stockholm accommodation indicator	Latest reading	Recent change	What we can take from it
Airbnb/STR occupancy	68%	+9.1% YoY	Available rentals are booking more often
Airbnb/STR ADR	$181	+5.2% YoY	Nightly pricing remains strong
Airbnb/STR RevPAR	$121	+9.8% YoY	Revenue per available night is improving
Stockholm County guest nights	Nearly 16m	+~4% in 2025	Tourism reached a record
Stockholm hotel occupancy	70%	—	Demand extends beyond Airbnb
Stockholm hotel RevPAR	SEK 1,086	Record level	The whole accommodation market is healthy

Why have Stockholm Airbnb listings suddenly fallen so much?

Stockholm's short-term-rental supply has dropped sharply in AirDNA's latest data, but we would be very careful about treating the full 49% decline as thousands of hosts genuinely leaving the market.

AirDNA currently tracks 1,795 active Stockholm rentals across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, down 48.9% from a year earlier. At the same time, average annual revenue per active rental supposedly jumped 156.8%.

That combination is hard to take at face value. Stockholm occupancy increased 9.1%, RevPAR increased 9.8%, and daily rates increased 5.2%. Those are solid improvements, but none comes remotely close to explaining a 157% jump in annual revenue by itself.

The active-listing pool has clearly changed. AirDNA defines an active property as one that was available or booked during the trailing 12 months, and Stockholm contains a strange mix of occasional, seasonal and professional rentals. About 29% of current listings are available for no more than 90 nights a year, while roughly 39% are available for 271–365 nights. More than one-quarter require stays of at least 30 nights.

Other short-term-rental datasets have also produced much larger Stockholm listing counts than AirDNA. Methodology, geographic boundaries, blocked calendars and minimum activity thresholds can all change the result dramatically.

We therefore see the falling supply as interesting, especially because Bromma's AirDNA supply is also down almost 49%, but we would not build an investment thesis around the exact 48.9% figure. Occupancy and RevPAR give us a cleaner picture of what guests are actually doing.

Can you legally run an Airbnb from a Stockholm bostadsrätt?

Running Airbnb regularly from a Stockholm bostadsrätt is difficult because the owner normally needs permission when a guest gets independent use of the apartment.

This catches many foreign buyers by surprise. Buying a bostadsrätt gives you the right to occupy a home within a cooperative housing association, or bostadsrättsförening. The association still has a say over second-hand use of the apartment.

Sweden's courts state that when somebody else independently uses a bostadsrätt, the arrangement counts as second-hand letting. The association must approve it, unless the owner successfully obtains permission from the Rent Tribunal.

The official application process itself shows why Airbnb can be awkward. An owner applying to the Rent Tribunal is asked whom the apartment will be rented to, why it is being rented and for what period. A revolving calendar of tourists staying for three or four nights fits poorly into that system.

Housing associations can also be stricter about Airbnb than they are about a normal second-hand tenant. Guidance and individual association rules published through Bostadsrätterna make clear that short-term Airbnb letting can be refused.

The consequences are serious enough that we would never treat association approval as a minor administrative detail. Sveriges Domstolar warns that unauthorized second-hand letting can ultimately lead to the owner losing the right to the bostadsrätt.

Sweden did relax some private-rental rules recently. It became somewhat easier to obtain continued permission for second-hand letting, and a new private-rental law also broadened parts of the ordinary rental framework. Tourist accommodation remains a separate problem, however, because the private-rental rules do not simply give bostadsrätt owners a blanket right to run holiday rentals.

Stockholm property situation	Airbnb practicality	Main issue	Our assessment
Normal bostadsrätt, owner away	Low without written approval	Association controls second-hand use	Risky for dedicated Airbnb
Rental apartment	Very low	Landlord approval required	Poor investment structure
Room rented while owner genuinely remains	Better	May qualify as lodger arrangement	More workable
Villa / house	Much better	Owner has more control	Stronger Airbnb structure
Purpose-approved short-stay accommodation	High	Commercial compliance still applies	Best fit for regular operation

Can you run a Stockholm Airbnb all year?

A normal Stockholm bostadsrätt is a weak choice for a year-round Airbnb business unless the association has clearly agreed to repeated short stays.

A lot of theoretical Airbnb yield calculations fall apart here. AirDNA says roughly 39% of the Stockholm properties it tracks are available for 271–365 nights a year, so full-time short-stay accommodation clearly exists in the market. That does not mean every apartment buyer can reproduce it.

Some listings will be houses, purpose-suited properties or units operating under rules that differ from those of a typical bostadsrätt. Others may involve professional accommodation. We also cannot assume that every listing visible on a platform has identical legal status.

For a conventional bostadsrätt investor, approval for one named tenant over several months is very different from inviting dozens of unrelated guests through the building during the year.

The building documents matter more than a neighborhood Airbnb revenue estimate. Before buying, we would want the association's statutes, its written short-term-letting policy and a clear answer from the board. A vague statement that “renting is allowed” is nowhere near enough.

Is Stockholm Airbnb demand strong outside summer?

Stockholm Airbnb demand holds up reasonably well through the year, although summer and late spring still give hosts their easiest months.

AirDNA currently gives Stockholm a seasonality score of 73 out of 100, which suggests a noticeably steadier market than a destination dependent on a short holiday season. The annual occupancy rate is 68%.

Hotels confirm the same broad pattern. Stockholm Business Region finds particularly strong accommodation demand from May into the autumn. The city now benefits from a mixture of leisure travel, international tourism, events and business demand rather than relying on a single summer peak.

Winter is clearly softer. A host should expect weaker pricing and more empty nights during the darkest part of the year. But Stockholm does not behave like a beach resort where most of the earning season disappears after a few months.

For an operator who can legally remain open year-round, that makes revenue management easier. For an occasional host who can only rent while traveling during summer, it also means the most obvious availability period happens to coincide with some of Stockholm's strongest tourist demand.

Is Stockholm tourism still growing fast enough to help Airbnb?

Stockholm tourism is still growing, and the latest figures give Airbnb hosts a stronger demand backdrop than the city had before the pandemic.

Stockholm County reached nearly 16 million guest nights in 2025, beating the previous record of about 15.4 million. Stockholm Business Region currently expects guest nights to rise another roughly 4% in 2026 and 3.8% in 2027, which would take the region close to 17 million.

The composition of those visitors is also improving. International travel has recovered strongly, while Stockholm's hotel market says leisure guests now account for around 52% of occupied rooms. That makes the city less dependent on weekday corporate travelers than it once was.

Over the longer run, several foreign markets have grown considerably. Stockholm Business Region's hotel analysis shows US guest nights more than doubling over the decade to 2025. French, Dutch and Finnish demand also increased strongly.

Airbnb benefits from that mix because families, groups and longer-stay international visitors often have reasons to prefer an apartment over a conventional hotel room.

We still would not assume another decade of straight-line tourism growth. Stockholm already sits at record accommodation volumes. The recent data gives us a healthy base, not evidence that nightly rates can keep rising indefinitely.

How much revenue can a Stockholm Airbnb realistically make now?

A good Stockholm short-term rental can currently bring in several hundred thousand kronor a year in gross revenue, although the citywide average should never be copied directly into a property forecast.

AirDNA's latest trailing-12-month average is $37,900 per active rental, with guests paying an average $181 per booked night. At recent exchange rates, that puts the broad annual revenue figure somewhere around the mid-SEK 300,000s.

That sounds attractive until we look at the variation inside Stockholm.

A central one-bedroom apartment available most of the year, a Bromma property, a room rented occasionally and a three-bedroom family apartment are fundamentally different businesses. AirDNA currently finds Bromma averaging only $22,600 in annual revenue, with 57% occupancy and a $141 daily rate. Nearby Solna averages $18,900 at 62% occupancy and a $98 daily rate.

Even within a small geographic area, the gap can therefore exceed $15,000 a year.

We would use the roughly $38,000 Stockholm figure as evidence that the market has real earning power. For an actual purchase, the sensible approach is to compare the specific property with rentals of the same size, location, availability and guest capacity.

Market	Annual STR revenue	Occupancy	Average daily rate
Stockholm	$37,900	68%	$181
Bromma	$22,600	57%	$141
Solna	$18,900	62%	$98

Does Airbnb make more money than long-term renting in Stockholm?

Stockholm Airbnb can beat a normal rental on gross income, sometimes by a wide margin, but the gap shrinks once we compare what the owner actually keeps.

An Airbnb generating somewhere around SEK 350,000–370,000 a year is effectively collecting close to SEK 30,000 a month before costs. A conventional residential letting may bring in much less.

Airbnb also creates expenses and work that a long-term tenancy largely avoids. Furnishing, utilities, linen, guest communication, cleaning gaps, replacement of damaged items and empty nights all come out of the short-stay premium.

Permission creates another difference. A housing association may be willing to approve a conventional second-hand tenant for a defined period while refusing a constant rotation of holiday guests.

So yes, Airbnb can win on gross revenue. On risk-adjusted income, a stable long-term tenant can be surprisingly competitive, especially for a mortgaged bostadsrätt.

Are Stockholm apartment prices too high for Airbnb to be a great investment?

Stockholm apartment prices currently make Airbnb yields decent rather than extraordinary, with the average bostadsrätt costing about SEK 5.35 million over the latest three months.

Fresh Svensk Mäklarstatistik data puts Stockholm bostadsrätter at roughly SEK 90,900 per square meter, with a three-month average transaction price of SEK 5.35 million. Over 12 months, the average is around SEK 90,000 per square meter and SEK 5.40 million.

Prices have risen 8.6% over the past year, although the latest three-month movement has turned slightly negative at -1.5%. Stockholm has had a strong recovery, but prices are not currently accelerating every month.

If we put a broad SEK 350,000–370,000 Airbnb revenue estimate against a SEK 5.4 million purchase, the gross revenue yield lands around 6.5%–7%.

A 50 m² apartment bought at roughly SEK 90,900/m² would cost around SEK 4.55 million. The same gross Airbnb revenue would produce something closer to an 8% gross revenue yield.

Those numbers come before the association fee, Airbnb charges, tax, utilities, cleaning, furniture, insurance, maintenance and financing. They also assume the apartment can be rented often enough to achieve the revenue estimate.

Illustrative Stockholm purchase	Property price	Gross Airbnb revenue	Approx. gross revenue yield
Average Stockholm bostadsrätt	SEK 5.40m	SEK 350k	6.5%
Average Stockholm bostadsrätt	SEK 5.40m	SEK 370k	6.9%
50 m² at SEK 90,900/m²	SEK 4.55m	SEK 350k	7.7%
50 m² at SEK 90,900/m²	SEK 4.55m	SEK 370k	8.1%

How much tax does a Stockholm Airbnb host actually pay?

Swedish tax takes a meaningful bite out of profitable Stockholm Airbnb income because private rental surplus is generally taxed at 30%.

Skatteverket currently gives private residential landlords a standard deduction of SEK 40,000 per property each year. A bostadsrätt owner can also deduct the association fee relating to the portion of the home and period that was rented.

Imagine a bostadsrätt bringing in SEK 360,000 over a year with an annual association fee of SEK 42,000, and assume for simplicity that the full fee qualifies for the rented period. Subtracting SEK 40,000 and SEK 42,000 leaves roughly SEK 278,000 of taxable surplus.

At 30%, the tax comes to about SEK 83,400.

The calculation can feel harsher than the property's actual economics because Skatteverket does not simply let private landlords deduct every real expense. Increased operating costs and renovation expenses are examples of costs that generally cannot just be subtracted from private rental income under these rules.

A high-revenue Airbnb can therefore owe tax on an amount that looks larger than its true cash profit.

Could a successful Stockholm Airbnb also have to charge VAT?

A serious Stockholm Airbnb can enter VAT territory once the rental starts looking enough like hotel accommodation and annual turnover crosses the relevant threshold.

Skatteverket says furnished accommodation can become VAT-liable when it is supplied in a way that resembles hotel activity. The precise assessment depends on how actively the accommodation is offered and operated, so there is no sensible way to decide VAT status from Airbnb revenue alone.

For a taxable person who meets the conditions, the current annual turnover threshold is SEK 120,000. Hotel-like accommodation carries 12% VAT.

That threshold is small compared with the revenue of a busy Stockholm short-term rental. A property producing around SEK 350,000 a year is already several times above SEK 120,000.

Recent Swedish tax guidance has also evolved following a Supreme Administrative Court ruling, which is another reason a high-volume host should check the exact structure rather than rely on old online summaries.

Airbnb's own fee structure adds another variable. Most ordinary hosts on the split-fee model currently pay about 3% of the booking subtotal, while the platform's single-fee structure usually takes around 15.5% from the host. The single fee applies to certain professional and software-connected hosts.

At SEK 360,000 of bookings, the difference between 3% and 15.5% is roughly SEK 45,000 a year. That alone is large enough to change whether a marginal investment works.

Can a mortgaged Stockholm Airbnb still produce good cash flow?

A mortgaged Stockholm Airbnb can still produce positive cash flow, but current property prices leave much less money at the end than the gross Airbnb revenue suggests.

Financing has become easier lately. Statistics Sweden's latest available figures put the average rate on new housing-loan agreements at 2.78%, while new floating mortgages average 2.74%. Both moved down again in the latest monthly reading.

Consider a simplified SEK 5.4 million apartment financed at 70% loan-to-value. The mortgage would be SEK 3.78 million. At 2.78%, annual interest is about SEK 105,000.

Now start with SEK 360,000 of annual Airbnb revenue. A 3% host fee removes about SEK 11,000. Assume another SEK 42,000 for the association fee and SEK 40,000 for utilities, cleaning gaps, insurance, supplies and replacement costs. Using the simplified tax example above removes roughly another SEK 83,000.

That leaves around SEK 184,000 before financing. Mortgage interest cuts the figure to about SEK 79,000.

Required principal amortization can then remove more cash, depending on the loan-to-value ratio and the borrower's situation.

The exact number will differ dramatically from one apartment to another, so this is an illustration rather than a forecast. Still, the order of magnitude is useful: SEK 360,000 of headline Airbnb revenue can turn into a relatively modest amount of annual cash for a leveraged buyer.

Simplified SEK 5.4m Airbnb example	Approx. annual amount
Gross Airbnb revenue	SEK 360,000
Airbnb host fee at 3%	-SEK 10,800
Association fee	-SEK 42,000
Other operating costs	-SEK 40,000
Simplified rental-income tax	-SEK 83,000
Cash before financing	~SEK 184,000
Mortgage interest at 70% LTV and 2.78%	-SEK 105,000
Cash before principal amortization	~SEK 79,000

Have lower mortgage rates made Stockholm Airbnb attractive again?

Cheaper mortgages have improved Stockholm Airbnb economics noticeably, although rising apartment prices have already absorbed part of that benefit.

Swedish mortgage rates moved above 4% during the recent tightening cycle. New housing-loan agreements now average 2.78%, with floating rates at 2.74%. A buyer carrying several million kronor of debt can save tens of thousands of kronor a year compared with the rate environment at the peak.

But Stockholm housing has simultaneously become more expensive. As seen above, bostadsrätt prices are up 8.6% over 12 months and average around SEK 5.4 million.

The result is mixed for new buyers. Existing owners who refinanced downward receive most of the benefit because their purchase price is already fixed. Someone buying today gets the cheaper mortgage but also pays the recovered property price.

The latest three-month price reading is down 1.5%, so the market has cooled somewhat after the rebound. For Airbnb investors, a cheaper purchase combined with current financing would improve the numbers much faster than another small decline in mortgage rates.

What type of Stockholm property actually works best for Airbnb?

The best Stockholm Airbnb property is one where the owner can legally rent frequently without paying such a high purchase price that the yield disappears.

That immediately makes some cheaper or structurally freer properties more interesting than a glamorous central bostadsrätt.

Östermalm, Vasastan, Södermalm and other central neighborhoods naturally have excellent appeal for tourists. Guests pay for walkability, restaurants, architecture, transport and proximity to Stockholm's main sights. But those same areas command high acquisition prices, and a desirable old building can have an association that dislikes tourist turnover.

Bromma shows the other side. AirDNA currently finds a lower $141 ADR and 57% occupancy there, so moving farther out clearly costs revenue. Yet purchase prices can also fall substantially.

For investors, the better question is how much revenue each krona of purchase price can generate under rules that actually allow the rental.

A villa can be particularly interesting because the owner has much more control over occupancy than in a typical bostadsrätt. Larger homes also compete differently with hotels because groups and families may need two or three hotel rooms to replicate the space.

We would happily choose a slightly weaker tourist location with clear operating freedom over a prime apartment where Airbnb depends on the board continuing to say yes.

Is buying a Stockholm apartment purely for Airbnb a good idea today?

Buying an ordinary Stockholm bostadsrätt purely to turn it into a full-time Airbnb is currently a weak investment strategy.

The revenue side looks tempting. Stockholm short-term rentals average around 68% occupancy, the latest average daily rate is $181, RevPAR is rising, tourism is at record levels and mortgage rates have come down.

The problem appears once we stack the economics against the legal structure. An average Stockholm bostadsrätt costs roughly SEK 5.4 million. Gross Airbnb revenue in the mid-SEK 300,000s produces only a mid-to-high-single-digit revenue yield before expenses. Tax, association fees, platform charges, operating costs and mortgage interest then consume a large share of it.

And a bostadsrätt association can still prevent the very short-term rental strategy used to justify the purchase.

We would need something specific to change that conclusion: a property type giving the owner much greater control, written approval for frequent short stays, an unusually low purchase price, or revenue potential well above the city average.

Without one of those advantages, buying first and hoping the association will tolerate a permanent Airbnb later is too fragile.

Is Airbnb still worth doing if you already own a home in Stockholm?

Airbnb looks much better for someone who already owns a Stockholm home and rents it occasionally than for an investor buying a new property solely for tourists.

The economics change because the purchase decision has already been made. The mortgage payment and association fee already exist. If the owner travels for several weeks and can legally rent the home during that period, much of the Airbnb income is incremental.

Stockholm's strong summer demand makes this especially useful. An owner away during the busiest travel weeks may be able to monetize an apartment that would otherwise sit empty.

The SEK 40,000 standard tax deduction is also much more powerful relative to SEK 50,000 or SEK 80,000 of occasional rental income than it is against a full-time operation producing several hundred thousand kronor.

Permission still has to be checked. Economically, though, occasional hosting fits Stockholm considerably better because it does not require a SEK 5 million property purchase to justify itself.

Can you still make money with Airbnb in Stockholm?

Yes, you can still make money with Airbnb in Stockholm, but the best opportunities today are existing homes rented occasionally and properties where frequent short-term use is clearly allowed.

Stockholm's guest demand gives us little reason to worry. AirDNA currently reports 68% occupancy, a $181 daily rate and $121 RevPAR, while Stockholm has recently recorded its highest tourism volumes ever. Hotels are also performing well, which tells us the short-term-rental numbers are backed by a genuinely strong accommodation market.

The investment math is less exciting. Stockholm bostadsrätter currently average around SEK 5.4 million, so even gross Airbnb revenue around the mid-SEK 300,000s starts from only a roughly 6.5%–7% revenue yield on the average purchase. Tax, association fees, platform charges, running costs and financing quickly bring the owner's actual return down.

Then we reach the biggest obstacle: a normal bostadsrätt owner cannot assume the apartment can cycle through tourists all year. Association approval remains central, and Sweden's recent rental reform has not turned ordinary residential apartments into freely operable Airbnb businesses.

For someone who already owns a suitable Stockholm property, Airbnb can still be an excellent way to earn money from weeks when the home would otherwise be empty. A villa or another property with real short-stay freedom can support a more serious operation too.

A newly purchased ordinary bostadsrätt is much harder to defend as a pure Airbnb investment. Stockholm still has profitable Airbnbs. What Stockholm no longer offers very easily is a simple buy-an-apartment-and-run-it-like-a-hotel strategy.

Who is the author of this content?

INVESTROPA

A team specialized in real estate investing in European countries

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Stockholm. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.