Housing Market Impacts of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) in 2020–2023
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Between 2020 and 2023, many U.S. metro areas saw surging home prices and in-migration due to remote work. Workers left high-cost cities in search of more space and affordability, often in warmer climates, which drove up housing demand in their destination markets. These same "Zoom boom" destinations often have high concentrations of short-term rentals (STRs) (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.), especially if they are desirable for tourism or new remote workers.
Notable examples of metros that experienced both remote-work migration and STR growth include:
A prime beneficiary of remote-work migration, growing ~11% in population since 2020. Austin's housing market exploded (home prices up ~40% from 2020–2022) amid an influx of tech workers drawn by its lifestyle and job growth. Austin also developed a large STR sector in this period, given its popularity with both business and leisure travelers.
Florida cities that attracted many remote workers (offering sunshine and no state income tax) and already had thriving STR activity for tourism. These markets saw double-digit price appreciation during the pandemic housing boom.
Midsize metros that became remote-work havens with relatively affordable housing pre-2020. Both experienced rapid price gains and an uptick in STRs as new residents and investors poured in.
A fast-growing Sun Belt metro that saw significant in-migration. By 2022, Atlanta had roughly 4,300 Airbnb listings in the city – many of them entire homes – indicating a sizable STR presence. (Atlanta had only minimal STR regulation until a 2022 ordinance.) This STR boom paralleled a tight housing market with rising prices.
An established high-cost metro that also saw home prices climb between 2020 and 2023. Boston's STR activity is more regulated (only owner-occupied units can be short-term rented), but even so, about 3,300 listings were active in 2023. Boston's strong job market and limited housing supply led to price appreciation, and a portion of its housing stock remained tied up in Airbnbs for visiting academics, medical tourists, and travelers.
These examples illustrate a pattern: metros with both a surge of remote-work newcomers and strong tourism appeal tended to have elevated STR activity during 2020–2023, potentially compounding their housing demand pressures.
When residential properties are converted from long-term housing into short-term rentals, the local housing supply for residents shrinks, which can put upward pressure on prices and rents. A growing body of research has quantified this effect:
Researchers found that a 1% increase in Airbnb listings leads to roughly a 0.018% increase in long-term rents and a 0.026% increase in house prices, on average. Another analysis estimated that Airbnb's growth accounted for about 20% of U.S. rent increases and 14% of home price increases in recent years. In other words, STR expansion has materially contributed to housing cost growth nationally, even if it's not the primary driver.
Source: Congressional Research Service - Short-Term Rental Markets Primer, MARC Economy & Housing Report
In New York City, an official study found Airbnb's growth was responsible for 9.2% of the overall rent increase citywide from 2009–2016 – and as much as 20% of rent growth in neighborhoods with high STR concentrations. This reflects how STRs can have very localized impacts: popular tourist neighborhoods see more housing units turned into Airbnbs, amplifying rent hikes in those areas.
Source: MARC Economy & Housing Report
Research focusing on Boston found that increases in short-term rentals led to higher asking rents and a reduction in available long-term rental units. This aligns with residents' concerns that STRs remove housing stock from a city already facing low vacancy rates.
A study of New Orleans found the STR industry (about $100 million in annual revenue) significantly removed long-term rental units from the market, particularly in older, lower-income neighborhoods that attracted investors buying homes to list on Airbnb.
It's important to note that the magnitude of STR effects on housing costs varies by market. If a city has ample new construction or a previously high vacancy rate, it can better absorb units converted to STRs without major price disruptions. But in already tight housing markets, STR conversions exacerbate scarcity – fewer homes for sale or rent means higher prices for the remaining stock. Overall, the evidence confirms that the rise of STRs is one contributing factor in housing affordability challenges, especially in high-demand metro areas.
The COVID-19 remote work era fueled unprecedented migration and housing speculation that intertwined with the STR market. Key dynamics included:
Freed from the office, many Americans relocated in 2020–2022. This drove housing demand to new heights in attractive regions (Sun Belt, Mountain West, etc.), accounting for a large share of the pandemic home price surge. Remote workers often sought bigger homes and favorable climates, causing "Zoom Town" booms. For example, an influx of remote professionals to places like Austin and Boise bid up home prices and quickly absorbed local inventory.
Source: BLS - Remote Work Impact on Housing Prices
The soaring home values and low interest rates of this period encouraged investors to speculate on housing. Many buyers purchased properties not just to resettle, but to rent out on Airbnb for profit. In several boomtowns, converting a home to an STR became significantly more lucrative than a traditional lease. In the Kansas City region, for instance, the monthly gross revenue from an Airbnb was about 75% higher than the median long-term rent for the same unit in 2023. Such high returns incentivized investors (including out-of-towners) to snap up houses and list them on STR platforms, further tightening the for-sale market.
Source: MARC Economy & Housing Report
Researchers observed that some owners took properties off the long-term market to exclusively use them as short-term rentals, drawn by potentially higher nightly yields. This was especially common in scenic or high-demand neighborhoods. Each home diverted to STR use represented one less unit for locals to rent or buy, contributing to the "housing speculation" atmosphere. In Phoenix and parts of Florida, for example, stories emerged of multiple homes on a single block being bought by Airbnb entrepreneurs.
Source: MARC Economy & Housing Report
In popular remote-work destinations, STR rates climbed alongside housing prices. This created a feedback loop: rising tourism and newcomer demand let hosts charge more per night, which in turn justified paying more to acquire the property. The result was higher valuations based partly on STR income potential. As one analysis noted, areas with dense Airbnb activity saw home values increase not just from general demand but from the new "income stream" that owning a STR property generated. Essentially, the ability to Airbnb a home became capitalized into its sale price, a form of speculation enabled by the remote work travel boom.
Source: Saporta Report - Atlanta Analysis
In summary, COVID-era remote work and migration trends contributed to housing market frenzies in certain metros, and the STR sector both benefited from and reinforced these trends. Remote workers provided a new customer base for STRs (often renting for extended "workcation" stays), while investors saw STRs as a way to ride the wave of rising home values. This interplay tightened for-sale inventories and added an element of housing speculation in already booming markets.
Starting around 2022, many cities responded to STR-driven concerns with stricter regulations. These policies aimed to reclaim housing for locals by limiting short-term rentals. The effects of such regulations are becoming evident:
In September 2023, NYC implemented one of the nation's toughest STR laws, requiring hosts to register and allowing only owner-occupied rentals with no more than two guests – effectively banning most whole-home Airbnbs. The immediate impact was a massive drop in listings (Airbnb bookings plummeted as an estimated 90% of NYC's 40,000+ listings were invalidated).
However, by one year later, only about 1,400 of those former STR units had been converted to long-term rentals, out of over 3 million housing units citywide. Many other ex-Airbnbs remained vacant, switched to 30+ day corporate rentals, or were otherwise kept off the market. As a result, NYC's overall rental supply didn't noticeably increase – and rents continued to reach record highs (Manhattan's median rent hit $4,747 in late 2025, up 3.3% year-over-year despite the Airbnb purge).
One clear outcome was that hotels filled the gap left by Airbnbs: with tourist demand unchanged, NYC hotel rates surged ~7% after the STR ban, benefiting the hotel industry even as renters saw no relief.
Source: The Rebuild - No Quick Trick to Solving Housing Crisis, Airbnb Economic Impact Report
These cities were early movers in regulating STRs. San Francisco's 2018 ordinance required STR registration and enforcement against illegal listings. Research shows SF's policy cut the number of available Airbnbs by about 20–27%. Similarly, Chicago imposed restrictions. A study of these markets found that in areas previously dense with STRs, house prices fell roughly 10% after the regulations – indicating some cooling of speculative pricing.
However, an unintended effect was noted: foreclosure rates ticked up in those same areas. The interpretation is that some homeowners who had depended on Airbnb income to pay their mortgage struggled once those rentals were shut down. In other words, the STR crackdowns improved home affordability for buyers (lowering prices modestly) but also removed an income source that had been keeping certain marginal owners afloat.
Source: Research on SF STR Regulations, Saporta Report
Boston enacted a strict STR ordinance in 2019, limiting short-term rentals to owner-occupied homes (no investor-owned STRs) and requiring all units to be registered. This led to a sharp decline in Airbnb listings in the city as many non-compliant listings were delisted. By mid-2025, Boston had about 2,900 active Airbnb listings, and 90% of them had city STR licenses – reflecting strong enforcement.
The ordinance effectively returned a number of units to the long-term rental market (or prevented them from becoming STRs in the first place), which likely helped prevent further tightening of Boston's rental supply. Even so, Boston's overall housing inventory remained very constrained (vacancy rates under 3%), so any rent moderation from the STR law was subtle.
Source: ArcGIS StoryMaps - Boston STR Analysis
In 2021–2022, Atlanta passed new rules capping each host to only two properties (one of which must be their primary residence) and instituting an 8% STR tax. This was aimed at stopping large-scale investors from operating mini-hotel empires across dozens of homes. Enforcement began in 2022. As a result, some multi-property hosts in Atlanta have had to sell off extra units or convert them to long-term rentals.
Atlanta's STR listings did drop following the rule, though compliance issues delayed full enforcement. By curtailing absentee STR investors, the city hopes to free up more homes for locals. Early signs show a modest increase in rental listings in neighborhoods that had been Airbnb hotspots (e.g., Midtown). However, the change is incremental – many hosts simply shifted to renting for 30+ day stays to work around the rules, similar to NYC's experience.
Source: Reddit Discussion on Atlanta STR Rules, Propmodo - STR Bans Analysis
New regulations have had mixed success in pushing short-term rentals back into the long-term housing stock. Some proportion of formerly STR units do get rented out to residents or put up for sale (especially if the owner can no longer cover costs without STR income). For example, a few thousand units in San Francisco and NYC moved to the long-term market post-regulation.
But a significant number of ex-STR properties remain in limbo – used as occasional corporate rentals, left vacant as second homes, or repurposed in other ways that don't help local housing supply. In markets with very tight housing (like NYC), even adding back a thousand units is a drop in the bucket of supply.
Overall, new STR regulations have curbed the STR inventory in many cities, but their effect on broader housing affordability has been modest so far. They do, however, alleviate some neighborhood nuisances (less party houses, etc.) and signal to investors that housing is prioritized for residents. In the long run, if thousands of homes currently used as STRs eventually return to the for-sale or rental market, that could slightly ease local housing shortages – but the evidence suggests this process is slow and dependent on broader market conditions.
Source: Propmodo - STR Bans Analysis
Housing experts are divided on how much relief the housing market would feel if the short-term rental sector shrinks due to regulations or market forces. Key viewpoints include:
Some analysts argue that a significant drop in STR activity could unlock much-needed supply for local buyers and renters. For example, in mid-2023, as Airbnb revenues fell in certain cities, some forecasters warned of an "Airbnb bust" leading STR investors to dump properties. Real estate consultant Nick Gerli pointed out that Airbnb income was down nearly 50% year-over-year in places like Phoenix and Austin, which could force "newbie" Airbnb hosts to sell their homes, potentially boosting listings and cooling prices in those markets.
This view suggests that if STRs stop being profitable, many investment properties will return to the for-sale inventory, helping alleviate housing scarcity and even prompting localized price corrections in STR-heavy areas. Indeed, an influx of listings from former STRs would increase supply, which economic theory says should put downward pressure on prices (all else equal).
Source: Newsweek - Airbnb Revenue Collapse
Many economists and housing researchers caution that STRs, while not insignificant, are only a small share of the housing stock in most cities – thus, their removal can only do so much. Nationally, active short-term rentals comprise roughly 1–2% of total housing units. Even in STR-heavy metros, they might be a few percent of housing at most.
Academic studies have consistently found that STRs do raise rents and reduce availability, but usually in modest, localized ways. The most pronounced effects occur in neighborhoods where entire homes are rented year-round by professional hosts; by contrast, an owner occasionally renting out their spare room has virtually no market impact.
Therefore, eliminating the former type of STRs can help at the margins – but if a city's fundamental problem is lack of housing development or other factors, the overall market may not see a noticeable change. For instance, two years after New York's aggressive STR ban, rents remained at record highs and vacancy rates at record lows, because the city's chronic housing shortage dwarfed the few tens of thousands of units Airbnb had ever taken up.
Source: Congressional Research Service, Propmodo - STR Bans Analysis
Thus far, the evidence from cities like NYC, San Francisco, and Boston supports the cautious view. Removing STRs has not led to any quick, significant drop in housing costs. It has delivered other benefits (e.g. calmer neighborhoods, higher hotel occupancy) but renters and first-time buyers are still facing high prices. In some cases, cracking down on STRs even had side-effects like reduced income for some homeowners, as seen in higher foreclosure metrics in STR-heavy areas post-regulation.
Most experts conclude that while scaling back STRs can be part of the solution to housing affordability – especially in tourist-centric cities – it is not a silver bullet. Lasting relief will require addressing core supply-and-demand issues, such as zoning reform and building more housing units. In other words, allowing a few hundred or thousand homes to re-enter the market via STR bans is helpful, but meaningful affordability gains will likely come only from adding tens of thousands of new homes in high-demand metros. The STR factor is just one piece of a much larger housing puzzle.
Source: The Rebuild, Propmodo, Airbnb Economic Impact
One way to isolate the impact of short-term rentals on housing is to compare data from markets with lots of STR activity to data from similar markets with minimal STR presence. Such comparisons suggest some unique stresses in STR-heavy markets:
Areas with a high density of STRs often exhibit tighter housing inventory and faster price growth than expected for their population growth alone. For example, cities in Florida that became Airbnb hotspots (like Orlando or Tampa) saw for-sale inventory levels stay very low in 2021–2022 and home prices jump 25%+ in a year. Meanwhile, a comparable metro with low STR usage but similar population trends might see a slightly lesser price jump. Research indicates STRs can account for a measurable share of local price increases – e.g. 9-20% of rent growth in high-STR NYC neighborhoods – which is a portion of price inflation not seen in low-STR areas.
Source: MARC Economy & Housing Report
The impact of STRs tends to be concentrated in particular neighborhoods rather than evenly spread citywide. In STR-heavy cities, you'll often find certain districts (downtowns, tourist belts, scenic areas) where a significant percentage of housing is used for short-term renting. Those neighborhoods experience more acute housing shortages and price appreciation relative to neighborhoods with few STRs. In a city with few STRs overall, there are rarely such hotspots distorting local sub-markets.
Source: Congressional Research Service
Consider Boston, MA (which has strict STR rules) versus Austin, TX (which until recently was more permissive). Both are prosperous metros that saw population and home demand grow in the pandemic. Boston's STR inventory is quite low – on the order of 1% of housing units – due to enforcement, so its home price surge was driven mostly by traditional factors (low interest rates, tight supply, incoming residents).
Austin's STR inventory by 2023 was higher; including its metro area vacation rentals, STRs likely made up ~2–3% of housing, with entire-home Airbnbs (rented >90 nights) alone equal to 0.5% of units. Austin's home prices not only climbed from fundamental demand (it was a top remote-work destination) but may have been pushed even further by investor purchases for STR use. Indeed, during 2020–2022, Austin's home price index rose faster than Boston's. While many variables differ between the cities, the heavier STR activity in Austin injected additional demand for properties (from hosts and tourists) that Boston didn't experience to the same extent.
Source: AirDNA - Boston Data, Airbnb - Austin Economic Impact
One study using quasi-experimental methods (examining cities before-and-after STR regulations) found that when STR listings were reduced by law, those cities' housing markets cooled slightly relative to control cities. In other words, high-STR cities had been seeing extra price pressure, which eased when STRs were curbed. Conversely, low-STR cities did not have that extra pressure in the first place. This suggests that what differentiates STR-heavy markets is an added layer of competition for housing – from tourists and STR investors – that purely local housing markets don't face.
In summary, STR-heavy metros experienced an "Airbnb effect" that low-STR metros avoided. That effect manifests as slightly higher rents, home prices, and reduced availability, especially in neighborhoods where STRs cluster. In markets with very few STRs (whether by policy or circumstance), housing affordability problems are more solely a function of resident demand and housing policy, rather than tourism-driven demand. Comparing the two confirms that STR activity, while not the dominant housing market force, does make a discernible difference in many places.
Understanding who the STR owners are is key to predicting how they react if profits decline. The short-term rental host community is diverse, but a few broad categories stand out:
These are individuals or families renting out part of their primary residence or a second home occasionally. For example, a homeowner might Airbnb their spare bedroom or their house while on vacation. Such hosts typically have one listing and use the extra income to help pay the mortgage or bills. In Austin, 52% of hosts said Airbnb income helped them afford to stay in their homes, and 15% said it specifically helped avoid foreclosure. These owners value STRs as a financial lifeline. If STR profitability falls or regulations tighten, mom-and-pop hosts may simply stop renting rather than sell their homes – since they live there or use them personally. Their decision to sell would depend more on personal life circumstances or general market conditions, not just STR income.
Source: Airbnb - Austin Economic Impact
A significant share of STRs are run by commercial operators who own or manage multiple properties. In fact, research by McGill University found that nearly half of Airbnb's revenue comes from hosts with multiple listings (i.e. professional operators). These range from small-scale investors with 2–5 condos to let, up to companies managing dozens of homes as a business. In Atlanta's 2022 Airbnb snapshot, about one-third of listings were by "superhosts," indicating high-volume or multi-unit hosts.
These investors treat STRs as an income-generating portfolio. If STR earnings drop sharply (due to oversupply or regulations), they are more likely to sell properties or convert them to long-term rentals because their calculus is purely financial. For example, during the late-2023 "Airbnbust" discussion, analysts anticipated that many highly leveraged multi-property hosts would put their homes on the market to cut losses. Unlike an owner-occupier, an investor has no personal attachment to the unit as a home – it's easier to liquidate an underperforming asset.
Source: Saporta Report - Multi-Property Hosts, Newsweek - Airbnbust Discussion
In the STR gold rush of the late 2010s and early 2020s, even some institutional investors (private equity firms, large landlords) entered the fray by buying portfolios of single-family homes in vacation destinations. These entities operate like professional landlords on a larger scale. They typically have better financial buffers and can weather short-term dips. However, if the STR market becomes structurally less profitable (say, due to permanent regulations or a sustained drop in travel demand), institutional owners could decide to exit the STR business in a given city and reallocate capital elsewhere. That could mean selling dozens or hundreds of homes, which would markedly increase local supply (though this scenario is relatively rare and mostly in vacation-heavy regions).
A smaller subset of STR owners are those who couldn't (or didn't want to) sell their home and decided to Airbnb it as a stopgap. For example, some owners who moved during the pandemic turned their old home into an STR instead of selling into an uncertain market. These "accidental hosts" might be quick to sell once conditions favor it – they were not in the STR game by grand design, and if profits fall or the hassle grows, they'll list the property for sale.
In essence, the more commercially-oriented the host, the more likely they are to sell the property if STR profitability declines. We saw hints of this in late 2023: as booking rates and revenue per listing fell in some saturated markets, online forums and reports noted some hosts starting to offload properties. Markets like Phoenix and Austin, which had a high share of pure investors, were expected to see a surge in listings from ex-Airbnb homes. On the other hand, in places where STRs are mostly casual home-sharers (e.g. a homeowner occasionally renting an extra room), a downturn in STR income doesn't directly add new supply – those homes weren't going to be on the open market regardless.
Source: Newsweek - Airbnb Revenue Collapse
To gauge how much short-term rentals could affect the for-sale market, it helps to know what fraction of housing was dedicated to STRs at the peak (2021–2022):
In 2023, an average of ~1.5 million properties were actively listed as short-term rentals at any given time. With roughly 147 million housing units in the U.S., that equates to about 1.6% of the nation's housing stock being used as STRs. This share likely peaked in the early 2020s and has since stabilized. While 1–2% of housing might not sound huge, it is very unevenly distributed.
Source: Congressional Research Service
The highest STR concentrations are found in vacation destinations. According to AirDNA data, 7 of the top 10 U.S. cities for Airbnbs per capita are in Florida – think beach and theme park towns where a notable chunk of homes are Airbnbs. In small resort towns (e.g. in mountain ski villages or beach communities), STRs can comprise a significant percentage of all housing. For example, some Florida beach towns have well over 10% of their housing stock listed on Airbnb. However, these are usually smaller locales rather than major metros.
Source: Congressional Research Service
In big cities, STRs as a percentage of total housing are typically lower, but still meaningful in certain neighborhoods. Let's consider the metros highlighted earlier:
The Austin metro had around 1 million housing units as of 2023. Airbnb's own analysis noted that entire-home STRs rented >90 nights/year were about 0.5% of that housing stock. If we include all STR listings (including those rented infrequently), the share might be closer to ~1% of Austin's housing. During the pandemic boom, AirDNA reported roughly 8,000+ active rentals in Austin city at one point, which was a noticeable uptick. Thus, at peak, perhaps on the order of 1 in 100 homes in greater Austin was being used substantially for short-term rental. Importantly, those homes tend to be in central Austin and vacation-friendly spots (e.g. near downtown, Lake Travis, etc.), not uniformly spread across every suburb.
Source: Airbnb - Austin Economic Impact, AirROI - Austin Data
The City of Atlanta has about 420,000 housing units. With around 4,300 Airbnbs active in mid-2022, roughly 1% of the city's housing stock was listed on Airbnb at that peak snapshot. The metro area as a whole (which has over 2.5 million housing units) had a lower percentage, since STRs are concentrated in the city's tourist and business districts. Atlanta's new STR regulations aim to keep this share from growing by limiting each host's units.
Boston proper has roughly 275,000 housing units. Pre-regulation (circa 2018), thousands of units were being used as STRs, contributing to the city's housing crunch. After the 2019 rules, Boston's Airbnb count dropped significantly. By 2023–2024, there were about 3,000 active listings in Boston – just over 1% of the housing stock – and most of those were home-share or owner-adjacent units due to the law. Boston's metro area (much larger) had a lot of STRs in vacation areas like Cape Cod, but within the city, the percentage remained around the 1% level at peak.
Source: AirDNA - Boston Data
Cities like Nashville, TN and New Orleans, LA saw STR shares in the low single digits. Nashville, before tightening rules, had several thousand STR permits in a city of about 260,000 units (perhaps ~2–3%). New Orleans at one point had 4–5% of its housing units listed on Airbnb, one of the highest for a large city, which drew intense local debate.
In peak remote-work period (2021–2022), STR usage hit record highs in many markets as travel rebounded and investors kept joining in. Even then, the share of total housing dedicated to STRs rarely exceeded a few percent in major metros. The influence of STRs was less about their bulk share and more about their concentrated impact in specific areas.
If, say, 2% of all homes in a city are STRs, those 2% are not randomly scattered – they're likely focused in the most desirable 10-20% of neighborhoods (downtowns, historic districts, near attractions). In those pockets, the share of STRs can be significant and very tangible to residents (e.g. a downtown condo building might be 30% short-term rented).
Thus, the magnitude of the STR effect on the for-sale market is felt most in those hotspot neighborhoods. Citywide, converting even 1–2% of units back to residential use could slightly increase housing inventory – which is helpful, but not game-changing, unless paired with broader housing initiatives. Policymakers and researchers estimate that eliminating STRs would not alone resolve affordability issues, but it could be one piece of a larger strategy. It's also worth noting that as of 2024–2025, the STR sector has shown signs of plateauing or even contracting in some cities (due to regulations and saturation), meaning its footprint in the housing market may decline from the pandemic-era peak.
Source: Propmodo - STR Bans Analysis
Short-term rentals have become an intertwined factor in many U.S. housing markets, especially during the pandemic housing boom. From 2020 to 2023, metros that saw an influx of remote workers and rapid home price appreciation – such as Austin, Atlanta, and others – often also grappled with a surge in STR activity. This convergence exacerbated competition for housing: some homes were pulled into the lucrative vacation rental pool just as demand from new residents was spiking.
Research and data show that STR growth did contribute to higher housing costs and tighter supply in these areas, although it operates alongside bigger forces like population growth and limited construction.
The recent wave of STR regulations in major cities represents an attempt to rebalance housing toward local needs. These policies have indeed slashed short-term rental listings and pushed a portion of units back to the long-term market. However, the early outcomes indicate that simply banning or restricting STRs is not a panacea for housing affordability. In places like New York, rents remained high and vacancy low even after thousands of Airbnbs went offline. This underscores that the fundamental shortage of housing – due to years of under-building – is the dominant issue, and STRs were only one contributor.
Looking forward, a sustained reduction in STR inventory (whether through continued regulation or a market "Airbnbust") could provide some relief in ultra-tight markets by modestly increasing supply. It might also cool speculative price pressures in neighborhoods that had effectively become mini hotel districts. But experts caution that meaningful housing affordability improvements will require broader measures, including increasing housing production and tackling zoning and investment patterns that constrain supply.
In other words, reining in short-term rentals can be helpful – especially for the most affected communities – but it must be coupled with "building more housing" to truly alleviate scarcity.
In summary, the period of 2020–2023 taught us that housing markets are highly sensitive to changes in both lifestyle (remote work) and investment behavior (STRs). Major metros with booming STR sectors and remote-worker inflows experienced an extra twist to their housing crunch. Going forward, the interplay between STR regulations, migration trends, and housing development will determine whether these cities can achieve a better balance – ensuring enough homes for those who live and work there, while still allowing the economic benefits of responsible home-sharing.
The data and studies so far suggest that a balanced approach is key: encourage housing growth and owner occupancy, limit the conversion of homes into full-time vacation rentals where it's harming the market, and recognize that solving the housing affordability crisis will take more than reversing the "Airbnb effect." It will take sustained investment in housing at all levels – something far beyond what shutting down a few thousand STRs can achieve on its own.
This report covers market trends. If you need analysis on a specific property:
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