$79,530
Annual Revenue
927
Total Active Listings
$269
Average Daily Rate
81%
Suburb Average Occupancy Level
We adjust pricing daily around the events that move demand most in the CBD: Australian Open finals at Melbourne Park, AFL and cricket finals at the MCG, and the conference and corporate travel calendar that fills high-rise towers through the working week. Rates lift ahead of these dates and ease back when the city empties out over quiet weekends, so your listing tracks real demand rather than a flat seasonal average.
Guests staying in the CBD often ask the same questions: how to find the laneway entrance off Flinders Lane, which tram gets them to Federation Square fastest, or whether Hosier Lane is walkable from the building. Our team answers in minutes, day or night, so check-in runs smoothly even when a guest lands at Southern Cross Station after an international flight delay.
CBD towers run tighter turnaround windows than houses in the suburbs: lift access, concierge booking slots and back-to-back same-day changeovers are part of daily life here. Our cleaning teams are used to working within building loading-dock hours and lift booking systems, so your apartment is guest-ready without holding up the next booking.
High-rise apartments come with their own maintenance profile: appliances, air conditioning units and intercom or smart lock systems that need to keep working through constant guest turnover. We coordinate trades who know how to get in and out of CBD buildings quickly, including liaising with building management when access requires it.
Corporate travellers and conference attendees tend to book through Booking.com, while leisure travellers visiting for events at the MCG or exploring Hosier Lane and Queen Victoria Market lean toward Airbnb. Longer corporate stays often come through Stayz / VRBO. We list and manage your property across all three so you capture demand regardless of which platform a guest starts on.
You receive clear reporting on what your property earned, what it cost to run, and how occupancy and average daily rate are tracking against the CBD market. No buried fees, no surprises: just a transparent monthly breakdown so you always know exactly how your investment is performing.
We charge a flat 15% management fee on every booking, with no setup costs and no hidden add-ons. Whether you own a one-bedroom on Elizabeth Street or a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Flagstaff Gardens, the fee structure stays the same: simple, predictable and tied directly to what your property earns.
CBD pricing moves on a different rhythm to the inner suburbs. Weekday demand from corporate travellers and conference delegates needs to be priced differently to weekend demand from leisure visitors chasing major events at the MCG or Melbourne Park. We know which buildings, which streets and which view types command a premium, and we price accordingly night by night.
Melbourne CBD is the most densely built short-stay market in the city: thousands of apartments stacked above Bourke Street, Elizabeth Street, Flinders Lane and Collins Street, within walking distance of Federation Square, Queen Victoria Market, the State Library of Victoria and Hosier Lane. Unlike the inner suburbs, almost none of this stock is freestanding houses; it is high-rise and mid-rise apartment towers, many under strata title with owners corporations that have their own rules about short-stay use.
This mix creates two distinct guest types. Corporate travellers and conference delegates fill towers through the working week, drawn by proximity to Melbourne’s business core and direct tram or train access to Southern Cross and Flinders Street stations. Leisure travellers and international visitors fill the same buildings on weekends and during major events, chasing the MCG, Melbourne Park, Chinatown and the laneway bar and street art scene around Hosier Lane.
Demand here is event-driven in a way few other Melbourne suburbs experience. The Australian Open, AFL and cricket finals at the MCG, and the Spring Racing Carnival all push rates up sharply for short windows, while the corporate and conference calendar keeps weekday occupancy strong even outside peak tourist season. A generic suburb pricing model misses both ends of this pattern, and short-term rental management Melbourne CBD has to account for both at once.
Vacation rental management in Melbourne CBD also means navigating owners corporation rules that do not apply to standalone houses. Since January 2025, owners corporations have been able to pass a 75% special resolution to restrict or ban short-stay letting in a building, a change that makes building-by-building due diligence essential before listing. Add lift access, loading-dock booking windows and concierge requirements into daily cleaning and maintenance logistics, and CBD apartments demand a level of local coordination that a generic property manager is rarely set up to provide.
Our Airbnb management Melbourne CBD service extends naturally into the surrounding precincts our owners also invest in. We manage properties in Docklands, just west across the rail yards, Southbank across the river, North Melbourne beyond Flagstaff Gardens, and Carlton just north past the university precinct. Our cleaning and maintenance teams are based locally, which matters for fast turnarounds between bookings and for responding quickly when a guest raises an issue mid-stay.
We charge a flat 15% management fee on what your property earns, with no setup costs and no hidden extras. That fee covers listing and pricing management, guest communication, cleaning and linen, maintenance coordination and revenue reporting, so there’s nothing extra to budget for once you’re set up.
It can be, particularly given how active the CBD short-stay market is: there are currently around 927 active listings, with an average daily rate of $269 and an occupancy level of 81%, putting typical annual revenue for a well-managed property at roughly $79,530. Profitability depends on your specific apartment, building rules and how the listing is priced and presented. For a broader look at the numbers, read our guide on Is Airbnb Profitable in Australia?
Yes, in most cases. Victoria introduced a 7.5% short-stay levy on eligible bookings under 28 nights from 1 January 2025, applied to the total booking fee including cleaning fees and GST. Properties that are the host’s principal place of residence are exempt. We handle the levy as part of our reporting so you always know your real take-home figure. Read more in our Short-Stay Levy blog post.
Yes. Plenty of owners block out dates for personal use, family visits or their own city stays, and we simply work the calendar around it. Just let us know your dates in advance so we can manage bookings and pricing around the blocked-out period.
Start with a free property appraisal so we can walk you through likely earnings for your specific apartment and building. Book one here. From there we handle onboarding and listing setup, and can also coordinate cleaning and linen, styling and photography if your apartment needs it before going live. Find out more about our Airbnb and short-term rental management service.
Potentially, yes. Since 1 January 2025, owners corporations in Victoria can pass a special resolution, requiring a 75% vote, to restrict or ban short-stay letting in a building, though this cannot apply to an owner’s principal place of residence. Given how many CBD properties sit within strata-titled towers, we recommend checking your building’s current owners corporation rules before listing, and we’re happy to help you work through what’s permitted in your specific building.
Find out what your Melbourne CBD property could earn as a short-term rental. We’ll run through the numbers, answer any questions about how our management service works, and outline next steps, all with no obligation.
