18 Cities Where It’s Getting Harder to Own and Manage Airbnbs

  • COVID-19 sparked a boom in short-term rentals and AirDNA found listings hit an all-time high in 2022.
  • Some residents and officials in hot cities say they deplete the housing stock or cause noise pollution.
  • 18 cities across North America seek to curb Airbnbs and short-term rentals.

People flocked to Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms earlier in the pandemic, trying to maximize their returns by renting houses to a growing number of vacationers, mobile nurses and teleworkers.

For many, it pays off. Airbnb reported average US host income rose to over $13,800 in 2021 – an increase of 85% since 2019. At the beginning of this year, there was an industry record of 1.5 million registrations available, according to the AirDNA analysis site.

But the number of landlords and property managers cashing in — in the United States and Canada — has left some of their neighbors frustrated.

Residents say the growing presence of short-term rentals in their neighborhoods can cause a variety of problems, ranging from mundane annoyances (noisy parties) to significant challenges (they make it harder for ordinary people to buy homes).

Towns and villages are caught in the middle, trying to balance these concerns with the income holidaymakers bring in and the rights of homeowners. From the beaches of California to the mountains of Vermont, communities are grappling with what the future of short-term rentals looks like.

Some local governments, like Honolulu, have passed regulations such as banning rental stays of less than 90 days, while others, like Aspen, Colorado, have proposed new taxes for landlords. Some cities simply called the timeout: Chattanooga, Tennessee, suspended new applications for non-owner-occupied units as it considered the future of short-term rentals there.

An Airbnb spokesperson said in an emailed statement that “short-term rentals have been part of the fabric of popular vacation destinations like these for decades, and our goal is to work with communities on balanced rules that support local tourism economies, provide certainty and clarity for hosts, and address community concerns.” Airbnb also maintains a page on its site called city ​​portalwhich has resources for local governments.

Here are 18 cities in the United States and Canada where residents and local politicians are fighting against short-term rentals. They are presented in alphabetical order.

Are you trying to pass regulations to limit short-term rentals? Do you own a short-term rental and want to talk about your experience with the regulations? Email reporter Dan Latu at [email protected].

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