AirBnbs Now Outnumber Available Apartments in New York

“Ever since Airbnb came on the scene in 2008, there have been concerns that the short-term-rental company would deplete the housing stock by sucking up available rooms, causing prices to rise in cities like New York and San Francisco, where there were already severe housing shortages.” Now, according to an article by Kim Velsey in Curbed, new numbers from New York City show that there are more Airbnb listings in the city than apartments available for long-term rentals.

“There are just so few apartments to be had that Airbnbs make up the majority of the city’s available rentals,” Velsey writes. In April, “The net-effective median rent in Manhattan went up year-over-year to a new high ($3,925) at the largest rate on record, and listing inventory had the most significant annual decline on record.”

As for AirBnb, “The company has, for its part, always vehemently denied that it plays any role in the housing shortage, insisting that it provides income that helps people remain in expensive cities they’d otherwise have to leave.”

“Doesn’t that point to just how scarce all rentals are (except hotel rooms, that is)?” asks Velsey. “Well, yes, but with people fighting over every decent apartment that comes on the market, it’s worth taking note of how many apartments have been taken out of circulation to become short-term rentals.”