Short-Term Rentals and LA's Lost Housing

In March 2015, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) released Airbnb, Rising Rent, and the Housing Crisis in Los Angeles. That report, based on data gathered in October 2014, found that Airbnb listings were dominated by commercial operations and were exacerbating the lack of affordable rental units in L.A.’s already tight housing market. The goal of this reassessment is to determine how the size and scope of the short-term rental (STR) industry has changed over the last nine months. This policy brief examines listing information from a broad range of STR operators alongside new Airbnb data. Combining these data sources allows for an examination of how Airbnb’s internal composition has changed over the last nine months and allows for the creation of a more refined snapshot of the Los Angeles STR industry.