Revenue management, answered

Bookings have stalled on my short-term rentals. Should I drop prices or hold?

Diagnose before you act. Check your booking pace against the same window last year and against your comp set. If you are behind on pace and lead time is shrinking, a targeted rate adjustment is warranted. Holding blind is not a strategy.

By Jack Murphy, Head of Revenue Management at UpRev. Running pricing for US vacation rental managers since 2017. Last updated August 25, 2026.

Read the Signals Before Moving Rates

Stalled bookings can mean your price is too high, your minimum stay is too restrictive, or demand in your market has softened broadly. Pull your pickup report and look at how many reservations came in over the last seven and fourteen days compared to prior periods. If your comp set is also slow, a blanket price cut wastes margin. If your comps are filling and you are not, the problem is yours to fix.

Where to Apply Pressure First

Before cutting base rates, open up orphan gaps by reducing minimum stay requirements on stranded nights. Those gaps kill occupancy quietly and are often the real culprit behind a stall. If pace is still lagging after that adjustment, apply selective rate reductions to the nearest unbooked dates rather than flattening your whole calendar. Protecting your rate integrity on future peak dates while moving distressed inventory is standard revenue management practice.

When Holding Is the Right Call

If you are still inside a reasonable booking window for the dates in question and your comp set is not discounting, hold your position and monitor daily. Panic cuts on dates that would have booked at full rate are a permanent margin loss you cannot recover. Set a clear pace threshold ahead of time so your team knows exactly when a rate move gets triggered, removing the guesswork from the decision.