Super Bowl 50: Residents list rentals at super-sized prices
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In the San Francisco Bay Area, where high housing costs are notorious, residents looking to make a quick buck are offering to rent their homes at super-sized prices to the 1 million visitors expected for Super Bowl 50 festivities.
Whether customers will pay such prices is uncertain, even in an area where hotel rooms are limited for the week-long extravaganza.
Of an estimated 50,000 hotel rooms in the nine-county Bay Area, the NFL has booked nearly half for players and their families, officials and employees, according to the local bowl organizing committee.
According to Airbnb, demand is about three times greater than for last year's Super Bowl in Arizona, with homes closer to the stadium listed at higher prices than units in notoriously apartment-squeezed San Francisco.
No one has booked yet, but that is likely to change once the playoff teams are locked Sunday, allowing the couple to go away for the weekend.
Judie Ciesla, an experienced host on Airbnb, recently helped Cyndi Chong and her sister list for the first time a two-bedroom home five blocks from the stadium.
The person offering the $10,000 a night luxury home with eight beds and eight parking spots did not respond to a message requesting an interview.