4 ms·

Permanent AirBnB units don't help the housing market in the city. I could see that it might not help, but does it hurt?

by enjo 12y ago

dougmccune 12y ago
It takes what would otherwise be rental units for SF residents off the market and instead provides them to tourists. So my opinion is that yeah, that hurts the residents of the city. You could make the argument that increasing tourism, or increasing the available footprint of where tourists stay (ie not just downtown where all the hotels are) is beneficial. I would actually love to see legit bed and breakfasts open in many more parts of the city. As it is your hotel choices are basically limited to downtown and Fisherman's Wharf. But I don't think helping tourism in SF should come at the cost of making the city less affordable for residents.
- baddox 12y ago
  > It takes what would otherwise be rental units for SF residents off the market and instead provides them to tourists. So my opinion is that yeah, that hurts the residents of the city. By lowering the supply of long-term rentals, it would drive the cost up, which would incentivize the production of more long-term housing.
  - emef 12y ago
    Incentive is not the problem with more housing... there is presently a huge demand for housing.
    - baddox 12y ago
      Well, the fact that most useful development is illegal is a massive disincentive.
  - nerfhammer 12y ago
    production of more long-term housing is already hugely incentivized but severely limited due to anti-development regulations and activism
    - baddox 12y ago
      I agree.
lindauer 12y ago
Yes. It reduces supply in the long-term housing market by taking a unit that otherwise be permanently occupied and renting it out short-term. I like staying in STR's when I travel, but I think this is a case where some regulation is reasonable. Hotel rates are so much higher than long-term rental rates on a nightly basis that there's a strong market incentive to use your property as an STR rather than LTR.

Permanent AirBnB units don't help the housing market in the city. I could see that it might not help, but does it hurt?

by enjo 12y ago

Permanent AirBnB units don't help the housing market in the city. I could see that it might not help, but does it hurt?

It takes what would otherwise be rental units for SF residents off the market and instead provides them to tourists. So my opinion is that yeah, that hurts the residents of the city. You could make the argument that increasing tourism, or increasing the available footprint of where tourists stay (ie not just downtown where all the hotels are) is beneficial. I would actually love to see legit bed and breakfasts open in many more parts of the city. As it is your hotel choices are basically limited to downtown and Fisherman's Wharf. But I don't think helping tourism in SF should come at the cost of making the city less affordable for residents.

baddox 12y ago
> It takes what would otherwise be rental units for SF residents off the market and instead provides them to tourists. So my opinion is that yeah, that hurts the residents of the city. By lowering the supply of long-term rentals, it would drive the cost up, which would incentivize the production of more long-term housing.
- emef 12y ago
  Incentive is not the problem with more housing... there is presently a huge demand for housing.
  - baddox 12y ago
    Well, the fact that most useful development is illegal is a massive disincentive.
- nerfhammer 12y ago
  production of more long-term housing is already hugely incentivized but severely limited due to anti-development regulations and activism
  - baddox 12y ago
    I agree.

lindauer 12y ago

Yes. It reduces supply in the long-term housing market by taking a unit that otherwise be permanently occupied and renting it out short-term. I like staying in STR's when I travel, but I think this is a case where some regulation is reasonable. Hotel rates are so much higher than long-term rental rates on a nightly basis that there's a strong market incentive to use your property as an STR rather than LTR.