Some B.C. property owners 'panicking' following short-term rental legislation: realtors

Deanna Steele says she has never seen as many condo and vacation homes for sale in Kelowna, B.C. as she has this month.

The founder of Keys to Kelowna Properties Inc., a luxury vacation rental management agency, said the lake-front city's real estate market is "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.

"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,'" said Steele.

That gold rush — investing in short-term rentals in Kelowna and many other Canadian cities — could potentially slow to a trickle in the wake of new legislation to regulate short-term rentals introduced by the B.C. government in mid-October.

While the B.C. Real Estate Association's chief economist Brendon Ogmundson says it is likely too early for the regulations to have a major impact on listings, he is hearing anecdotal reports from realtors that investors are looking to offload properties as the new rules come into effect.

"My guess is that this change in policy will certainly motivate some investors to sell, but I'm not sure we are going to see a major shift in the aggregate listings numbers," Ogmundson said via email to CBC News.

The policy changes include requiring all short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb, to share data with municipalities to improve local enforcement and increasing fines for hosts breaking local municipal bylaws.

In addition, all short-term rental platforms will have to include the business licences and registration numbers of listings where they are required by a local government, and must remove listings without those requirements quickly.

Short-term rentals will be limited to the host's principal residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit.

WATCH | B.C. housing minister says rules meant to target multi-listing hosts:

The rules will come into effect in stages between now and late 2024, the province said.

"It's an attempt to ensure that housing comes back to people," Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said Monday.

Two days later, the province also expanded its speculation and vacancy tax to 13 more municipalities.

Kelowna realtor Tamara Stone said the day after the short-term rental legislation passed its first reading on Oct. 16, six people called her afraid about what it would mean for their finances if they could no longer rent short-term to supplement mortgage payments.