Short-term rental owners rethinking investment over rates, regulations: experts
Global News
For a while, people listing cottages and condos for rent on Airbnb, Vrbo and other online marketplaces were making more money than they had in years.
Higher interest rates combined with stricter regulations have some Canadians beginning to second-guess the wisdom of investing in a short-term rental property.
Deana Steele says she has never seen as many condo and vacation homes for sale as there are in Kelowna, B.C. right now.
The founder of Keys to Kelowna Properties Inc., a luxury vacation rental management agency, said the lake-front city’s real estate market is currently “saturated” by properties zoned for short-term rental use. Some of the sellers are people who bought not that long ago and are already trying to get out.
“We had all these first-timers flood the market — they were late adopters,” said Steele.
“They thought they were going to make a mint because they saw what was happening in the gold rush. And now they’re realizing, ‘Oh, big mistake.”’
The “gold rush” Steele is referring to is the investor stampede to short-term rentals that Kelowna and many other Canadian cities saw at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work-from-home mandates coupled with a plunge in international travel drove renewed interest among Canadians in domestic destinations. For a while, people listing cottages and condos for rent on Airbnb, Vrbo and other online marketplaces were making more money than they had in years.
But as more and more people tried to get in on the action, the balance shifted. By the summer of this year, Steele said, the number of Airbnb and similar listings in the city was outstripping demand.
