Banning Airbnb Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis (2024)

FAQs

Is Airbnb to blame for the housing crisis? ›

This conclusion is consistent with other independent academic studies which like this recent paper published by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California concluded that on a national basis “a 10% increase in Airbnb ...

Short-term bookings, often defined as stays shorter than a month, reduce the supply of long-term rentals in local markets and are frequently blamed for exacerbating housing shortages, inflating rents and threatening hospitality jobs.

It affects rents and home prices.

According to a group of researchers working on a not-yet-published paper, rent and housing prices increase along with Airbnb prices.

Airbnb can have negative impacts on locals' quality of life. This is one of the lesser-known Airbnb problems. Tourists hiring a place on Airbnb to enjoy a “cheaper” holiday actually pushes rent prices up for locals who need to live in the city. Tourists are visitors competing with locals for accommodation.

Many misinterpreted Gerli's tweet as saying that Airbnb was collapsing, but instead he was pointing to — erroneously, as it turns out — a massive drop in revenue for some hosts, not necessarily for Airbnb as a company.

Impact on Local Housing Markets

Airbnb's business model has often been criticized for exacerbating housing shortages in major cities. By making it lucrative for property owners to rent out their homes for short stays, long-term rental availability decreases, which in turn drives up rent prices.

Good Fences Make Good (Airbnb) Neighbors

Short-term rental hosts and their neighbors are feuding at a resounding rate. A homeowner in Southern California, Mrs. F, who requested anonymity, is one such Airbnb neighbor. She told Skift that her community dramatically deteriorated after an influx of short-term rentals.

Because of the high surcharge on Airbnb rentals, many people have returned to staying in hotels. As many Twitter users pointed out, hotel amenities – such as a concierge, cleaning services, pools, and better security – might be worth more than an Airbnb stay.

But you do have to worry about whether your short-term rentals violate your city's local zoning or housing laws or if short-term guests violate noise ordinances. If so, neighbor complaints could lead to fines and other penalties from your local government.

Los Angeles imposes a 120-Day Annual Cap on short-term rentals for hosts. This cap restricts hosts to renting out their primary residence on platforms such as Airbnb for no more than 120 days per calendar year.

Did Airbnb cause the housing crisis? ›

Such data enumerates how Airbnb contributes to the lack of availability of housing for others to purchase. The lack of housing options combines with the soaring prices of rent individuals face, leaving hopeful homeowners with an insurmountable obstacle: pay more to rent while trying to save for a home.

Vrbo is commonly considered the biggest Airbnb competitor. It has over 2 million listings and vacation rentals in 190 countries. And because Vrbo is part of the parent brand Expedia Group, listing on Vrbo enables you to tap into this brand's 112+ million monthly unique visitors.

Because there are so many more listings now, Airbnb hosts say they are watching their bookings plummet. The flood of new hosts has meant fewer can earn good money. “Now, the markets are completely oversaturated,” says Melody Wright, founder of mortgage strategy and technology company Huringa.

Instead, market analysts say many U.S. Airbnbs are sitting empty because so many wealthier people and investors listed short-term rentals on the site, in the wake of a pandemic-fueled boom. The number of available short-term rental listings in the U.S. skyrocketed to 1.38 million in September.