Melbourne vs Tasmania: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Tasmania edges ahead of Melbourne on higher occupancy (26.3% vs 16.4%), stronger RevPAR (£40 vs £24).

Head-to-head metrics

	Melbourne	Tasmania
Median occupancy	16.4%	26.3%
Median daily rate	£138	£148
Median RevPAR	£24	£40
Active listings	15,595	5,498
YoY occupancy	-1.7 pts	+0 pts
YoY daily rate	—	+49.2%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Melbourne vs Tasmania

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Tasmania finishes decisively ahead of Melbourne. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 70.3% higher in Tasmania: £40 against £24. Tasmania's listings run at 26.3% occupancy against 16.4% in Melbourne, worth 9.9 extra points of booked calendar every year. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

Tasmania takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £148 against £138 — and still fills more of the year, 26.3% against 16.4%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £40 against £24.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Melbourne is not simply the weaker market of the two. Melbourne is the deeper market at 15,595 active listings against 5,498, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. Its strongest submarket, Yarra Ranges, clears £45 RevPAR on its own — city medians hide that kind of spread. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Melbourne nor Tasmania currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Melbourne peaks in September at 65.3% and bottoms in November at 47.5%; Tasmania runs from 52.7% in September down to 36.9% in May. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Melbourne suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Tasmania answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 15,595 active Melbourne listings and 5,498 in Tasmania.

Frequently asked questions

Is Melbourne or Tasmania better for Airbnb investment?

Tasmania, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£40 vs £24), higher occupancy (26.3% vs 16.4%), and higher median annual revenue (£14,780 vs £8,675). Melbourne is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a deeper market (15,595 vs 5,498 active listings).

Which has higher occupancy, Melbourne or Tasmania?

Tasmania, at 26.3% median occupancy against 16.4% in Melbourne — a gap of 9.9 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Melbourne can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Melbourne shed 1.7 points and Tasmania was flat, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Melbourne or Tasmania?

Tasmania, at £148 a night against £138 in Melbourne — roughly 7.4% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £40 in Tasmania against £24, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Melbourne or Tasmania?

Tasmania, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −1.7 points in Melbourne. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Melbourne or Tasmania?

Melbourne, with 15,595 active listings against 5,498 in Tasmania. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Melbourne vs Tasmania?

Tasmania earns more: roughly £14,780 a year for a median listing against £8,675 in Melbourne. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Melbourne →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Tasmania →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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