What’s an Airbnb Listing Worth in 2015?

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Airbnb is close to raising $1 billion in financing that values that short-term vacation rental company at $24 billion. When it last raised money in 2014, a $450 million investment valued the company at $10 billion, so more than doubling the size of the valuation in just over a year is a significant accomplishment. Especially one in which Airbnb has been losing battles to attorneys general, city councils, and statehouses. At the same time, though, by its own numbers it has more than doubled the number of listings on its site, and it has a name recognition other seven-year old companies would kill for. Last year we compared the value of a listing on Airbnb to that of a hotel room operated by each of the top publicly listed hospitality companies, as well as sometimes rival HomeAway, which is also public. While hotels and short-term rentals are very different businesses, to consumers they're often interchangeable and compete hea