Airbnb Drives Up Rent Costs In Manhattan and Brooklyn, Report Says (cnet.com)

According to a report from New York City's comptroller, Scott Stringer, Airbnb is causing rent prices to increase significantly in Manhattan and Brooklyn (Warning: source may be paywalled: alternative source), where the majority of the company's rentals are concentrated. The New York Times reports: In Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea neighborhoods and the Midtown Business District, which accounted for about 11 percent of all Airbnb listings in New York City in 2016, average monthly rents increased by $398 between 2009 and 2016, of which $86, or 21.6 percent, was a result of Airbnb's presence, the report said. In Greenpoint and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, the study said, rents went up 18.6 percent in those years because of Airbnb listings. Airbnb makes it easy to rent apartments to tourists, taking units off the market for full-time residents, the report said. The report said that Airbnb's influence cost New Yorkers $616 million in additional rent in 2016 as a result of price pressures.

Comments

Re:...and?

[Anonymous Coward]

Occupancy rates in hotels are down, year-over-year.

I wonder if some kind of an alternative to a hotel became available in recent years. Like some kind of service that allows you to rent from a common homeowner.

Here's a scary thought

[rsilvergun]

AirBnB turns your tourists into part of your Urban Sprawl problem. The Hotels are usually in a district (especially nice ones) near the city's major amenities. AirBnB breaks that. If folks are staying where ever and driving a few hours in a rental (fine since they're on vacation) expect to see traffic shoot up.

Re:...and?

[BlueStrat]

Yes. Hotels have daily housekeeping. No Airbnb place I have stayed at does. The market has spoken: Many people don't want to pay for that.

However, if Airbnb is popular because they don't pay a hotel tax, for example, then that is tax evasion, not free-market competition.

Why can't there be a middle-ground?

It's rather silly to expect homeowners to pay the tax rates of a multinational hotel chain to rent out their home or apartment for a couple of months while they go on a cruise or something, but there are legitimate concerns and problems that do in fact need to be addressed.

How about creating regulations such that in areas that have a population density higher than a set amount, property owners who wish to participate in AirBnB-style activities must be licensed. Make it cheap, like $25 or less for a year so that people will comply. Place restrictions on how many weeks/months out of a year the property may be rented out. If your property is not in a high population density area, then no restrictions or license necessary.

Strat