MyKey Presents: Furnished Apartment Trends

MyKey Global Accommodations is committed to providing professionally managed and vetted furnished accommodations so you can stay in comfort and with confidence. We believe that commitment extends beyond just where you lay your head each night, however. We’re here to help make every facet of traveling, relocating or otherwise engaging in the furnished accommodation experience easy, stress-free and enjoyable.

The Rise of Non-Traditional Tenants
MyKey Global Accommodations recognizes the growing importance of corporate housing for many consumers. These tenants and the industry as a whole continue to grow and develop. With the evolution of temporary accommodations, corporate relocations, and business travel, furnished apartments will increasingly move toward the forefront.

Interesting Fact: 71% of millennials expressed desire to work internationally. This has lead to temporary relocations becoming more prominent.

Reasons People Are Interested In Furnished Apartments

1. Emergency stays due to severe weather or emergencies that displace individuals and families for more than 30 days
2. Travelers with children who would rather stay in a furnished apartment than a hotel to save on food, have more space, and feel more at home
3. Seasonal travelers, for instance during ski or surf season, are looking for convenient places to live while enjoying their hobby

Customers who stay in furnished apartments self-book 69% of the time. These individuals are focused on not only meeting specific lodging needs but also on leisure opportunities in the area. These include choosing a location near great shopping and entertainment, close to cultural centers for site-seeing, and near a gym.

Demand for Furnished Housing
Because of the emergence of the global marketplace, the best employee for a role may not even be located in the same country or even the same continent. Surveys show there will be a 50% increase in overseas assignments. The data also indicates that overseas assignments have increased by 25% over the past decade.

Demand for furnished housing is partly fueled by companies sending their employees out of town for an extended period of time. Many residential renters don’t want to deal with buying furniture and are showing interest in furnished housing. The global corporate housing market generated $36.2 billion in revenue last year. Part of the growth is attributed to residential, rather than corporate, rentals. However, corporate providers often offer lower daily rates and more spacious apartments.

Average rents have increased by 6.3% since 2015. A reason for this may be that while supply has increased to an all-time high of around 67,000 properties, spurred by an increase in residential construction of luxury apartments, this increase hasn’t kept up with the demand for corporate housing. Today, corporate housing equates to a full 20% of the temporary accommodation market.

How Laws and Regulations have Changed
Vacation rental law changes like “primary residence” laws and hotel taxes are changing the holiday rental industry. These laws, passed in different cities all over the world are in response to a variety of problems arising from vacationers such as trashed homes and high turnovers that lower property values. Corporate housing is far better positioned to manage the demands of lawmakers and homeowners associations due to the high quality of properties, stricter rules and more responsible clients.

Employers are feeling the pressure to comply with health and safety regulations, and ensure their employees are safe while traveling. This is a major driving reason as to why MyKey only offers vetted hotels and furnished accommodations. In addition, employers need to know that employees can be located and evacuated quickly if necessary in a temporary apartment. Many companies believe that serviced apartments provide long term flexibility and security to fill the gap between the convenience and safety of a short stay.

The Types of Furnished Apartments that Consumers Want
Two trends that are emerging in the market are focused on lifestyle and community. The quality of the experience for guests includes a move toward luxury, which is being driven by the growth at the top end.

Other trends include new offerings and technologies to cater to different demographics. These options include servicing millennial families, providing wellness facility options and virtual assistants such as Alexa and Google Home, and greater focus on eco-design and operations.

The increased demand for social and communal spaces gives way to a new type of furnished apartment. It’s the new way to socialize and entertain, rather than the old extended stay-pitch of “doing everything in your own private apartment.”