PHOENIX — Short-term rentals like Airbnb are probably not why housing costs are so high. Data shows a lack of new construction is actually driving Arizona's affordability crisis.
Arizona is now the seventh least affordable state in the country. Before the Great Recession, housing supply exceeded demand.
However, since then, population growth has outpaced new housing construction, leading to a 50% price jump in just two years since the pandemic.
While short-term rentals have been an easy target, data from the Common Sense Institute shows no relationship between the growth of Airbnbs and housing costs.
"We see no relationship between the growth or number of Airbnbs in a location and the cost of the housing in that location," Glenn Farley of the Common Sense Institute said.
The data points to one solution: build more housing.
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