Study sees a spike in Airbnb ‘investor’ units
The number of Airbnb units cropping up in the city per month has doubled with a large majority deemed “investor” units that Mayor Martin J. Walsh has proposed to ban, according to a new study by advocates for limiting the service that is being contested by Airbnb.
The study by nonprofit Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations, or ADCO, found:
• The city is gaining 200 Airbnb units per month.
• Of those, 70 percent downtown are investor units, while 60 percent are investor units in the rest of the city.
The so-called investor units are properties rented out by nonresident landlords.
ADCO chairman Ford Cavallari said the City Council should vote to support Walsh’s proposal calling for an outright ban on investor units and for strictly regulating other short-term rentals.
Cavallari said the study suggests corporations are inundating the market.
“Here in Boston, probably over 50 percent of the listings are people who have more than 10 units,” Cavallari said. “Investors are taking over everywhere . ... Airbnb is supposed to be ‘I have a place, I share it with you.’ ... It’s not supposed to be building the next generation of hotel businesses.”
But Airbnb countered that its own research has found that less than 2 percent of Boston housing units have ever hosted Airbnb guests, and that 68 percent of “entire home” listings in Boston last year were rented fewer than 90 days.
“The data suggests that most hosts rent space that would likely not be available on the long-term rental market,” an Airbnb statement said.
The City Council is currently mulling Walsh’s proposal and could vote on it tomorrow, which also includes requiring hosts to register and pay fees.
Airbnb hosts have repeatedly called for looser restrictions, saying money from short-term rentals allows them to pay their own mortgages and stay in the city.
While Walsh’s plan would let property owners and tenants rent out rooms in their own units year-round, it places a 120-day limit on owner occupants of twoand three-family homes looking to rent out otherwise empty apartments in their building.
When asked for comment yesterday, a spokeswoman for Walsh said he will continue to work with the council as the proposal moves through the process.
Councilor Lydia Edwards, a proponent of strict Airbnb regulations, said of the study: “When I hear numbers like that, it really demonstrates that not only do we need regulations, but the city needs to act fast.”