The number of short-term rentals in Boston has plummeted over the past year and is now below 700 citywide, down from an estimated 6,000 just a few years ago, according to a new report from the city which indicates that in most places the area is the exorbitant monthly rents mean that having tenants is simply a better option for landlords.
There are now 677 registered short-term rental units in the city as of June 1 — up from 841 at the same time in 2021 and 807 in June 2020, the first year in which the city’s restrictions on AirBnb and others similar companies entered into force. .
This law, led by then-Councillor Michelle Wu, severely limited landlords’ ability to own investment properties for the sole purpose of renting them out for short-term rentals, which is characterized by less than 28 days. The law effectively limited people from offering on Airbnb or other similar sites either a “colocation”, “limited sharing” and “adjacent owner” rental: in that order, either someone’s entire residence, a room in their residence or a different unit in a two or three unit property where the owner lives.
The ordinance survived a lawsuit by Airbnb and went into effect in late 2019, when the city calculated that people had rented about 6,000 units this way. Owners only sought to register about 1,900 units initially, of which the city approved about half, officials said in late 2019.
Among the 677 registered units are 207 house shares, 146 limited shares and 126 owner-occupied units. There are also 68 accommodation units, 16 executive suites and 111 inpatient units, all of which fall under different licensing rules created by other laws. The designation of “executive suites” was what some short-term rental companies were looking for in an effort to circumvent the new ordinance, as the Herald reported at the timebut few received it.
A heat map the city created for short-term rental units around Boston shows that the South End and downtown have particularly dense concentrations of them. In numbers, the city center has 81 and the South End 60, with only Dorchester – a ward much larger than either of them – having more than the city centre, with 84. Jamaica Plain, also a important district, has 70, and all the others are at 45 (East Boston, then Roxbury having 44) or less.
The report notes that “the main hotspots are in Boston’s South End and Central neighborhoods, such as Beacon Hill, Chinatown and North End.”
The city’s report then dives into the finances of short-term rentals, estimating the average citywide monthly income from having one at $1,745, as opposed to the average cost of long-term rentals at citywide $2,796 per month.
“Thus, according to these estimates, a landlord could potentially earn an average of $1,052 more per month by renting a dwelling long-term rather than short-term,” the report concludes. “A landlord would likely lose money renting a unit on a short-term rental in almost any neighborhood.”
In fact, the report states that Beacon Hill, the North End and Roslindale are “the only neighborhoods where prices indicate a homeowner can earn more in the short term than in the long term.” The North End and Beacon Hill are the two most lucrative locations for short-term rentals at what equate to rates of $3,583 and $3,082 per month respectively, exceeding even long-term rental rates by more than $3,000 from these quarters.
Short-term rental prices are increasing on average across the city, as the 2019 pre-pandemic estimate was $1,364. That said, the rapid increase in long-term rents has more than kept pace lately, and across the city they’ve actually earned an additional $22 a month on short-term rents over the year. elapsed.
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