Findings dispel housing considerations, urge concentrate on growth, not restrictions.
Following the rise in reputation of short-term leases, communities throughout Yavapai County have focused varied legislative insurance policies to limit and restrict using personal property for short-term trip rental functions. In early Could, the Prescott Space Affiliation of REALTORS introduced the outcomes of an Financial Affect Examine on Brief Time period Leases (STRs) in Yavapai County. The aim of the research, commissioned by the Sedona Verde Valley Affiliation of REALTORS, examines the influence of STRs on native economies, workforce housing and property laws.
Sedona Verde Valley Affiliation of REALTORS’ Authorities Affairs Director Jack Greacen supplied a complete overview of the info collected and answered viewers questions throughout displays this spring in Sedona and Prescott Valley. Though short-term leases are sometimes blamed for perceived native housing challenges, Greacen introduced proof of the true affect of short-term leases within the county and the way they contribute to the better native financial system.
Greacen is the founding companion and CEO of AEG Coverage Advisors, a consulting agency primarily based out of Tucson. For the previous two and half years, he stated, he has talked about short-term leases throughout the nation, the place many communities are experiencing the identical points as Yavapai County.
Whereas county residents are wanting to protect the distinctive character of their communities, Greacen stated it’s vital to acknowledge the need of adapting to market realities and the wants of those communities because it applies to STRs.
“It has been a really attention-grabbing and academic train,” he stated. “Not simply understanding how our financial system has modified over the past 20 years, however extra importantly, what has modified our market, notably for realtors. It’s vital that everyone understands this, as a result of it tells the story of the place we’re going.”
Communities are constructing houses at charges decrease than these of the Nineties, Seventies, and even pre-1940, Greacen stated, severely limiting housing availability.
“Most communities now are at growth ranges beneath 1990, some beneath 1970. And one we’ve really seen is pre-1940. If you assume we may have 1,200, 1,300 or 5,000 houses in a given group, you’re not producing houses at pre-Nineties, you’re producing houses at pre-Forties degree. We’re not even in the identical ballpark dialog,” Greacen stated.
He added that the general public seemingly has heard how short-term leases are taking away from workforce housing. “Extra importantly than that, you get this opinion that firms are coming into our yard and shopping for up the houses and turning them into leases. When you wished to say that about Phoenix, I’d let you know there’s no less than some relative fact to that. Once we’re speaking concerning the rural group of Yavapai County, and I’d say the whole thing of the county, there’s nothing extra unequivocally unfaithful.”
Additionally, Greacen stated that many municipal authorities leaders and even state legislators in Arizona imagine that short-term leases have an effect on workforce housing. The truth is, the research reveals that the spike in Yavapai County residence values starting in 2021 coincided with, and have been seemingly spurred partially by, traditionally low rates of interest. An analogous surge in residence costs throughout the COVID interval occurred throughout Arizona as a complete and all through a lot of the U.S. – indicating a typical dynamic prevailing throughout markets, no matter STR prevalence.
Schooling about STRs and the way they have an effect on communities is Greacen’s aim for the research and analysis he’s now facilitating. He’s working with RRC Associates, primarily based out of Boulder, Colorado, which he stated is actually the gold normal for financial evaluation within the Mountain West, to supply research that present municipalities how short-term leases have an effect on their communities and their economies.
“My aim is to place the realtor model on a complete research of what short-term leases are, to inform communities definitively what they’re performing like, why they’re performing and what it really means. And extra importantly, to hopefully refocus most communities on the related dialog, which is prioritizing growth,” he stated.
Whereas acknowledging the considerations of residents and municipal leaders concerning the results of STRs on a group, Greacen highlighted some related information that present STRs in truth have a better influence on space economies than could also be thought, and extreme regulation may cause confirmed injury to these economies.
A portion of the research confirmed STRs contributed considerably to the financial system of Yavapai County and Metropolis of Sedona in 2023, immediately or not directly supporting 4,978 jobs and producing $721 million in financial output, $449 million in gross home product (GDP), and $195 million in labor revenue, the equal of 4.4% of Yavapai County’s revenue.
Direct customer spending on STR Leases was estimated at $259 million, and guests utilizing STRs spent an estimated $131 million at meals and beverage institutions; $44 million for recreation, sightseeing and leisure; $98 million on procuring and retail; and $52 million on native transportation.
Greacen stated that studied communities throughout the nation which have regulated or taxed STRs in varied methods have stated cash generated can be used for reasonably priced housing efforts. In Yavapai County, the place STRs generated an estimated $2.5 million in TPT taxes and sure nicely in extra of $600,000 in property taxes for the county in 2023, none of these {dollars} seem to have been used for such housing efforts. FBN
By Heidi Dahms Foster, FBN
For full findings of the research, go to the PAAR web site at https://www.paar.org/2025/05/06/economic-impact-study-short-term-rentals-yavapai-county/.
Picture by Heidi Dahms-Foster: Jack Greacen, authorities affairs director for the Sedona Verde Valley Affiliation of REALTORS, shared findings from a current research dispelling the frequent fantasy about short-term rental properties taking away from workforce housing and revealing their optimistic financial influence on the area.
