Dallas unlocks one of the highest Airbnb growth rates in the US

The number of Airbnb listings in Dallas is skyrocketing, according to a new study.

The study, published Oct. 22 by real estate platform IPX1031, ranks Dallas the fifth largest city for Airbnb listing growth since 2017 (95.2%). A notch higher, at No. 4, is Fort Worth (101.5%). San Antonio, eighth (76.9%), joins Fort Worth and Dallas in the top 10 for Airbnb growth.

At 120.4%, Charlotte, North Carolina tops the growth list.

About 2,000 to 3,000 short-term rental properties operate in Dallas. Properties for Short Term Rental in Dallas must pay hotel tax but otherwise are not regulated.

An estimated 1,100 properties in nearby Fort Worth are marketed as short-term rentals. The City of Fort Worth allows short-term rentals everywhere except in residential areas. In September, the Fort Worth City Council asked city staff to explore ways to regulate short-term rentalsincluding those posted on Airbnb.

Earlier this year, IPX1031 ranked Fort Worth as the 12th best place in the United States invest in an Airbnb property.

At the other end of the spectrum in the new IPX1031 study, Austin ranks fifth among major cities for the lowest Airbnb listing growth since 2017 (7.19%). San Francisco tops that list, with a 16.6% drop in Airbnb listings.

Restrictions on short-term rentals may cause some cities to experience limited or negative Airbnb growth, rating IPX1031. Austin and San Antonio regulate short-term rental properties. Austin’s regulations regarding short-term rentals are considered one of the strictest in Texas. San Antonio began regulating short-term rentals in November 2018.

“The rapid expansion of short-term rental platforms has prompted many cities to adopt new regulations to mitigate the loss of long-term rental units and to address more localized concerns such as the increase in the number of transient residents and local ripple effects,” Ingrid Gould Ellen, faculty director of New York University’s Furman Center, Told Urban land magazine. “The responses run the gamut from outright prohibitions, to caps on the number of units or nights, to an array of taxes and fees.”

For its study, IPX1031 analyzed Airbnb listing data from more than 350 US cities. The data comes from AirDNA, an analytics database for short-term rentals.