What Airbnbs is actually doing to housing prices in Maine
More Mainers across the state have started renting their homes to vacationers on Airbnb and other short-term rental sites. But many wondered if their decisions could contribute to more expensive housing for everyone.
More than half a million guests stayed at an Airbnb in Maine in 2019, the latest year available, generating $91 million for hosts, according to company data. It is difficult to determine an identical effect of Airbnb units in all neighborhoods and communities, but studies in recent years show a clear trend of decreasing supply of long-term rentals and likely increasing rental costs. and purchase.
Maine faces a housing crisis that has made many communities unaffordable for middle-class residents and the growing popularity of Airbnbs could pose a problem for buyers and renters, especially in tourist communities such as Portland and Bar Harbor, which began to regulate them. But restaurants, bars and shops rely on the fact that vacationers can easily stay in Maine and communities that over-regulate the market lose business.
Although people stay in short-term rentals in Maine, many of Airbnb’s best places are clustered along the coast of Maine. The county with the highest per-capita stay rate in 2019 was Hancock County, where 82,700 guests far exceeded the county’s 2020 population of 55,000. The company no longer releases data by community, said a spokesperson.
It seems likely that landlords who rent to Airbnb users rather than long-term tenants are decreasing the number of long-term rental units available, but the issue is complex. A study published last month by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that Airbnb probably led to higher rents in New Yorkmost of the financial burden fell on high-income tenants.
A 2021 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that communities with more Airbnb units tended to decrease long-term rental supply because landlords changed units for Airbnbs at the expense of affordable housing. They also found that the presence of Airbnbs broadens the overall rental housing market, likely benefiting low-income homeowners.
Other research is clearer about a negative effect on the housing market. Another study found that rent and home values each fell 3% in communities where cities prohibited Airbnb operators from renting more than one address at a time.
Some communities in Maine have taken similar action. Kittery started monitoring and regulation of units in 2020setting a cap on properties in the city and requiring owners to register their units with the city each year for a fee.
Those who don’t register face a $250 fine and the city can deny permits to properties that break the law or violate city ordinances. The moves came after an “explosion” of new Airbnb properties in the city, City Council Speaker Judy Spiller said.
“Our concern was that properties were being taken that could have been used for affordable housing,” Spiller said.
The ordinance achieved its goal of reducing the number of Airbnbs in the city, especially in the more densely populated part of Kittery, she said.
Short-term rentals aren’t going anywhere, said Matt Lewis, president of HospitalityMaine, a group that represents hotels and restaurants. But municipalities in Maine should be able to regulate the number of such lists.
“We would support the booking option with short-term rentals provided restrictions in cities apply and can limit the impact on traditional hotels, hostels,” Lewis said.
Asked about the effect of short-term rentals on Maine’s housing market, MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan said he hopes the development of secondary suites, a second home on an existing property where people live often Airbnb tenants, can increase the number of affordable homes. in Maine.
Another study published in the journal “Marketing Science” in 2021 found that Airbnbs was most likely to increase rents and selling prices in neighborhoods with low ownership rate. He also found that they were reducing the supply of long-term housing units.
Airbnb officials have largely denied the company is playing a critical role in driving up housing market costs, noting in the New York Times that many landlords rent accommodation to make ends meet.
“It is unfair to cynically target our host community and blame it for what is ultimately a complex public policy issue,” the company responded to a proposal to regulate units in Hobart, Australia.
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