A study by two housing advocacy groups alleges that Airbnb is worsening New York City’s tight housing supply, and is likely causing thousands of units to be pulled from the market.
Housing Conservation Coordinators and MFY Legal Service, which conducted the study, identified 8,000 Airbnb listings that advertised so frequently that they were likely illegally converted into hotel rooms. This situation has caused rents to rise in the city, the study contends.
More than half of the units on Airbnb were being offered for rent by owners who had multiple units up for rent. This is a sign that they were being run by de-facto illegal hotel operators, the report says. Airbnb disputed the study’s findings, saying that its methodology was flawed and accused it of being funded by the hotel industry.
Cities across the country have been challenged to apply existing codes and regulations to the growth of the site that matches property owners with travelers looking for short-term rental accommodations.
Related Stories
Market Data | Apr 8, 2019
Engineering, construction spending to rise 3% in 2019: FMI outlook
Top-performing segments forecast in 2019 include transportation, public safety, and education.
Market Data | Apr 1, 2019
Nonresidential spending expands again in February
Private nonresidential spending fell 0.5% for the month and is only up 0.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Market Data | Mar 22, 2019
Construction contractors regain confidence in January 2019
Expectations for sales during the coming six-month period remained especially upbeat in January.
Market Data | Mar 21, 2019
Billings moderate in February following robust New Year
AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for February was 50.3, down from 55.3 in January.
Market Data | Mar 19, 2019
ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator declines sharply in January 2019
The Construction Backlog Indicator contracted to 8.1 months during January 2019.
Market Data | Mar 15, 2019
2019 starts off with expansion in nonresidential spending
At a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, nonresidential spending totaled $762.5 billion for the month.
Market Data | Mar 14, 2019
Construction input prices rise for first time since October
Of the 11 construction subcategories, seven experienced price declines for the month.
Market Data | Mar 6, 2019
Global hotel construction pipeline hits record high at 2018 year-end
There are a record-high 6,352 hotel projects and 1.17 million rooms currently under construction worldwide.
Market Data | Feb 28, 2019
U.S. economic growth softens in final quarter of 2018
Year-over-year GDP growth was 3.1%, while average growth for 2018 was 2.9%.
Market Data | Feb 20, 2019
Strong start to 2019 for architecture billings
“The government shutdown affected architecture firms, but doesn’t appear to have created a slowdown in the profession,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD, in the latest ABI report.
