Those concerned about housing affordability often blame short-term rentals (STRs) for driving up the cost of housing by depleting the supply of long-term rental homes and increasing rent prices. To date, there hasn’t been a lot of research or data to truly understand if STRs have an impact on housing supply or affordability. Until now…

Zillow, the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, recently dug into the topic on their Zillow Home Price Expectations (ZHPE) Survey and concluded that STRs do not have a large impact on housing affordability by depleting the supply of long-term rental homes and increasing rent prices.

In fact, the lack of affordable housing is the result of a small inventory of homes in the overall market. Since only 7 percent of homeowners rent out a single room or the entire place as STRs  on average in the United States, according to the ZHPE survey, this small percentage is not responsible for the housing shortage.

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