Sharing economy revolution started over a decade ago. Since then many “Uber This”, “Airbnb That” projects appeared that reshaped (or attempted to reshape) some industries. 

The original ideas were about efficiency, sustainability and, perhaps most importantly, community. By sharing resources, we could make better use of them, right? For example, the average car is only driven 4% of the time. That means 96% of the time, it’s just taking up space.

As much as I would love to believe in the original idea behind the sharing economy revolution, I think it’s important to acknowledge its dark side too.

This study has found that the rise of Airbnb and other home-sharing sites is making housing less affordable in some cities – for every 1% increase in listings on Airbnb, rents went up by 0.42%. While this may not seem like much at first glance, consider Airbnb’s year-over-year average growth rate is approximately 44%.

It can have a significant impact on affordability over time—particularly in high-demand markets where Airbnb activity is concentrated. In NYC, for example, the researchers estimate that Airbnb was responsible for nearly 10 percent of citywide rental increase for several years in a row. 

So while the sharing economy may have started out with good intentions, it’s important to consider its potential negative impact as well. What was your experience? What do you think?