South Florida should build more housing, not blame vacation rentals for high rents

For decades, both hotels and vacation rentals have helped accommodate visitors to South Florida, and in turn, supported one of the state’s biggest jobcreating industries: tourism.

Given this history, it is disappointing to see the Jan. 13 editorial, “Rent In

Miami is way too high. Airbnb And Vrbo may be making things worse” suggest that short-term rentals could be to blame for increased rent prices in South Florida.

Vacation rentals have been a staple of Florida’s tourism industry for decades. While sites like Vrbo and Airbnb have helped increase the visibility of this type of accommodation, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the number of vacation rentals in Florida has decreased over the past decade.

According to the Census Bureau’s 2021 American

Community Survey, Florida counts an estimated 830,000 housing units for “seasonal, recreational or occasional use.” This is the Bureau’s definition of vacation homes, and this number represents roughly 8% of the state’s 10 million housing units.

These figures represent a reduction of 5% since 2010 when the number of units available for “seasonal, recreational or occasional use” clocked in at 877,000, or roughly 10% of the state’s then 9 million housing supply.

In other words, the share of vacation rentals has declined over the past decade — the very time that rental prices have increased.

The simplest explanation for rising housing costs comes down to supply and demand. In Florida, the state’s population grew by 16% between 2010 and 2021, yet the number of housing units only increased by 11% over the same time period — a mere 1% per year and not enough to keep up with demand.

These statistics are publicly available, and yet Florida Atlantic University Professor Ken H. Johnson based his “blame shortterm rentals” thesis, cited in the editorial, not on data, but on “anecdotal evidence from [200] conversations.”

Credible research done on the impact of shortterm rentals on housing costs show short-term rentals have a minimal impact on rents. Even a report found that shortterm rentals contribute to a $40 per year rent increase per renter — that’s about $3 a month.

Should communities have sensible regulations for short-term rentals, including registration and tax requirements? Absolutely, and many do, including Miami-Dade

County.

Rents have gone up.

And short-term rentals are popular. But mistaking correlation for causation based on conversations, and a rental index devoid of short-term rental data, is misleading.

Building new housing and increasing density is politically difficult, and often requires overcoming NIMBY neighborhood opposition. Pinning blame simplistically on shortterm rentals for rising rents only lets local leaders off the hook for their failure to build.

South Florida needs to build its way out of its current housing crisis, not try to blame its way out.