Can Vacasa’s Strategy Change Keep Homeowners From Leaving?

How many times was “churn” mentioned in Vacasa’s earnings call? 16 times, noted one executive in the short-term rental industry (and, yes, we counted too). 

Mounting losses, layoffs and dwindling bookings — Vacasa has several issues to tackle, but its most persistent problem still remains: Homeowners leaving its platform and a tarnished brand image. 

In the fourth quarter of last year, both gross booking value and revenue were down 19% year-over-year. And Vacasa lost another 5% of homeowners last year, finishing 2023 with 42,000 homes. 

Vacasa CEO Rob Greyber said during an earnings call in November last year, that homeowners would continue to leave its platform until the first quarter of 2024. The company claimed at the start of 2023 that it’s making a strategy change to stop some of the churn: