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San Francisco started regulating short-term vacation rentals on rooms/apartments/houses located within city limits in September 2019. The objectives of this conceptual-scenario and regression study are to calculate the present value of the net earnings for a short-term residential rental property located in San Francisco pre-regulation and post-regulation, and consider a financial reason motivating households to list properties as short-term rentals.

A present value approach is used to estimate the value of rental space to tourists prior to the passage of San Francisco's short-term rental regulations compared to post-rental rules. Table 2 shows pre- and post-income scenarios. Price increases of +20, +40 and +60 percent over the initial base rate failed to restore host earnings to pre-registration levels. The present value model calculates the net revenue less net cost associated with listing a property. The regression model uses the number of listings as the dependent variable, and housing prices divided by weekly wages as independent variables.

The short-term rental regulations significantly reduce the profitability associated with short-term tourist stays offered by hosts and listed by online platforms. A host earns pre-regulation income when average daily rents increase by approximately 71.5 percent. It will likely limit income earned by hosts and Airbnb and other shared housing website platforms due to the reduced number of rental days allowed for shared housing caused by ordinances and host enrollment restrictions. The regression model results suggest that homeowners were listing properties for rent to help cover higher priced property purchases.

Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and HomeAway are all private companies; this means that financial information is not publicly available. HomeAway, VRBO, and Booking.com are companies owned by Expedia. FlipKey is owned by TripAdvisor. Due to limited public information regarding income statements and property listing trends, regression analysis and descriptive statistics cannot be generated using audited financial statements.

Rent control restriction frequently sets the maximum price below the market-clearing price, which results in limited supply but increase in demand for housing. The San Francisco regulations outlaw second-home rentals and seriously limit the availability of other rentals to tourists. FlipKey and HomeAway tend to rent second homes, which San Francisco now bars from being rented for short-term.

The San Francisco restrictions were enacted with the goal of increasing the supply of rental housing available to permanent residents by restricting short-term rentals. This may have limited short-term benefits to permanent residents, but in the long term lowers income associated with single-family housing which will encourage housing arrangements that would avoid leasing restrictions and lower the number of new houses built. Other cities also have a history of rent controls, and are experiencing housing shortages and at the same time attracting large numbers of tourists. These cities may be motivated to enact similar rental restrictions as those approved in San Francisco.

These short-term rental restrictions just started being implemented and enforced. A court decision upheld them. There were media reports outlining the restrictions, but enforcement has just started, so no research papers have been written about San Francisco. Prior research studies have not used net present value analysis to calculate the loss to the host by enacted ordinances restricting tourists’ length of stay and have neither tried to explain why homeowners are listing properties for short-term rentals.

This study aims to examine the permit changes enacted by the city of Portland, Oregon, USA, on the construction and subsequent short-term rental of tiny homes. The permitting process was eased by the city in 2014. The city’s enforcement of occupancy and rental ordinances, sometimes called Airbnb laws, were tightened in 2019. The new code restrictions are tighter than the rental codes that existed previously.

This paper uses time-series data to first consider the thesis that relaxing building permit requirements for tiny homes has encouraged legal construction and increased the number of applications filed with the city planning office. The number of permits was the dependent variable and time-sensitive dummy variable was the independent variable. An adjusted T-statistic was calculated using a least-squares regression model with a moving average autocorrelation adjustment. The second regression model considers the financial relationship between active listings on Airbnb and HomeAway to a housing price coverage ratio and the aggregated dynamic-factor model used to calculate the economic activity index for Portland.

There were two reported case study findings. The first regression used a dummy variable measuring the application response to permit easing. It was positive and significant. The second finding measures active host listings on Airbnb whether they are directly associated with the calculated multiple of the changes in the S&P/Case–Shiller housing price index low tier divided by weekly employee income. Higher numbers for this coverage ratio suggest that listings on short-term rental platforms are increasing directly with the ratio. The economic activity index is insignificant when predicting the level of listings. Regression results indicate that property owners are financially motivated to list dwellings as visitor rentals and possibly motivated to install tiny homes behind their primary residences as short-term rental units. Local economic conditions do not seem to influence the number of properties listed on short-term rental websites.

Higher coverage ratios encourage property owners to list dwellings on short-term rental websites in the absence of enforceable rental restrictions. Without a method to quickly and feasible identify owners violating short-term rental restriction legislation and enforce fines there is a tendency for active listings to grow in a locale. San Francisco, California, under its new short-term rental ordinance requires online websites such as Airbnb to enforce permit requirements. San Francisco’s ordinance change seems to have resulted in a dramatic drop in active listings available for visitor rentals.

Information published by Inside Airbnb and Airdna does not separate entire dwelling information into categories such as single-family detached houses; tiny homes; apartments; or condominiums ownership types. Even public housing units are sometimes listed as short-term rentals. The aggregate data makes the relationship between active listings and the coverage ratio difficult to interpret. Listing information is limited and only available for a three-year rolling cycle on a quarterly basis for the city of Portland, Oregon.

Future research studies could consider how tiny homes might play a role in providing permanent housing to local residents or for providing a shelter for the homeless in cities experiencing acute long-term rental shortages. Does limiting the number of homes available as short-term visitor rentals noticeably increase the quantity of housing and lower the monthly rental rates available to permanent residents of the city? Cities have passed short-term rental codes with the objective of increasing the availability of rental housing available to residents at affordable prices.

Prior research studies focused on who purchases tiny homes; tiny homes used as housing for the homeless; communities composed of tiny homes; and the connection between tiny home living and political activism. The study herein links permit changes to tiny-home building applications. It uses the home price index low tier and the economic condition index for the Portland metropolitan area to predict the number of active listings on Airbnb and HomeAway websites pre-regulation enforcement.

This viewpoint paper aims to provide reflections on the role of second homes in the tourism and housing markets together with future lines of research during and after the first outbreak of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. The authors aim to review the epistemological evolution of the term “second homes” because of the pandemic, as well as to unfold possible short-, medium- and long-term effects that could place second homes at the center of tourist activity and of the tourist rental market profitability.

This paper is based on published research studies about the definition of the term “second homes”, as well as media sources related to their role during the current situation of the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the early stages of the pandemic, second-home owners migrated from crowded cities to low-density areas, being vectors of transmission of the virus. Now, a potential shift in tourist preferences could position second homes at the center of tourist activity as soon as travel restrictions are reduced. This could intensify existing processes of commodification of housing, empowering accommodation platforms and situating the potential for profiteering around the tourist rental market. Parallely, international interests in migrating from crowded cities to low-density areas could also be triggered.

This viewpoint is presented as the confinement measures associated with the new pandemic are being de-escalated in most of the western countries. It is expected that sharing it will provide insights to researchers and practitioners to better plan their research around secondary housing. Its role should be analysed from different perspectives: in the spread of the virus to low-density areas to anticipate mitigation actions in future outbreaks; in the recovery process of (domestic) tourism; in the processes of commodification and financialization of housing in tourist areas; and their impacts on local residents.

The purpose of this paper is to explore regulatory issues of short-term rentals (STR) and evaluate what constitutes effective regulation of STR by analyzing the STR ordinance in the City of Charleston, South Carolina, as well as reviewing the regulation process the City took.

In this case study, the study employed a documentary research method (Ahmed, 2010) using multiple sources, including government documents, historical statistics and local publications. Prior to analyzing documents, face-to-face interviews with a couple of key government officials were conducted to understand the overall context of the regulation processes as well as to obtain primary information and data pertaining to Charleston’s STR regulation processes.

The study identified three noteworthy points. First, the legalization process was transparent and democratic; opportunities for stakeholder participation in crafting the Charleston’s ordinance included the establishment of the STR Task Force and public listening sessions. Second, the Charleston’s STR regulation is designed to protect non-participating residents and the historic characters of its neighborhoods; several measures (e.g. strict eligibility, operational restrictions, licensing and permitting, enforcement) protect non-participants and the neighborhood overall, while the City allows STR to be legal. Third, there is a unique enforcement mechanism and tourism-related governance structure; dedicated staff in the Department of Livability and Tourism enforce the STR laws in Charleston.

Empirical analysis of the STR regulations has never been established. The study provides useful and timely insights for local governments, destination management organizations, tourism scholars, and stakeholders in tourism cities to advance the discussions and debates around STR regulations.

The purpose of this paper is to re-establish the role of Airbnb platform in the contemporary tourism destination management. Given the fact that sharing economy is mega-trend with various impacts at any destination, the paper’s purpose is to underline that sharing economy platforms, such as Airbnb, has a different impact on each stage of destination’s life cycle. Given this, a more effective strategy and policies plan should be deployed and implemented, expanding the benefits of multiplying and accelerating effects on local economy.

The neologisms of “Over-tourism” and “Tourism-phobia” and the growing conflicts between locals and tourist, along with various collateral implications in local economy, were the initial incentive to focus on the subject. The methodology was based on the critical approach of regulatory measures taken in destinations with different characteristics.

Findings indicate that general and nationwide restrictions on Airbnb are often unfounded, mainly based on bias against its impact on traditional hotels and local lifestyle preservation, rather than concrete and objective impact measurements.

A primary qualitative and quantitative research should follow the concept of association between destination’s life cycle and sharing economy applications, for authorities to form the appropriate regulatory framework.

The paper associates the implications of sharing economy with the stages of destinations life cycle, underlying that measures need to be customized to the specific characteristics of each destination.

Drawing from available literature and several case studies, this research aims to determine the criteria to be considered in shaping a framework regulating Airbnb. This paper will identify the regulatory frameworks of Airbnb from an international perspective and investigate the public perception on the criteria to be considered in shaping the framework regulating Airbnb. The criteria needed to be considered to regulate Airbnb are suggested accordingly.

A quantitative approach based on central tendency statistics was adopted in this research. Questionnaires were administered to the public to investigate the public's opinion on the criteria to be considered to regulate Airbnb. Finally, the criteria to be considered to regulate Airbnb will be determined. By using the mean analysis, this paper will tease out the ranking of the criteria that should be prioritized in shaping the Airbnb regulatory framework.

The results indicated that the criteria of “permits and safety” and “housing rules enforcement” outweigh the other “taxes” and “rule enforcement” criteria and shall be prioritized by the local authorities during the formation of Airbnb regulations in Malaysia.

This paper provides valuable pointers for policymakers before the expansion of Airbnb and before it becomes more difficult to regulate.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the authors construct a country-specific time-varying private rental regulation index for 18 developed economies starting from 1973 to 2014. Second, the authors analyze the effects of their index on the housing rental markets across 18 countries and states.

The authors’ index not only covers 18 developed economies over 42 years but also combines both tenure security and rent laws. The authors’ empirical framework is that of panel regressions with time and country fixed effects.

The authors’ index sheds further insights on the extent to which rent and tenure security laws have converged over the past 40 years for each economy. Moreover, the authors show three empirical results. First, stringent rent control regimes do lead to lower real rent growth rates than regimes with free rents. Second, soft rent control regimes with time-limited tenure security and minimum duration periods, however, may cause higher rent growth rates than free rent regimes. Third, rent-free regimes do not show significant high real rent appreciation rates.

The authors’ rental regulation index is the first time-varying index that covers more than 18 economies over 40 years.

Due to the rapid development of automotive industry, China has become the world first in car production and consumption. However, under the pressure of environment pollution, traffic congestion and parking restriction in big cities, the car rental service, as an alternative solution for private car, becomes a new trend. The market is disorganized now. This research aims to use SERVQUAL model to further examine which dimension has great contribution to service quality.

A service quality evaluation scale for the car rental industry in China is designed based on PZB's SERVQUAL model. The reliability and exploratory factor analysis methods are adopted to measure the validity and reliability of the scale from the sampled data. At the same time, the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is discussed with the path analysis method.

The results show that the contribution of empathy to the total service quality ranks the top. At the same time, empathy has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

It is very important to attract customers depending on personalized services or service providing mode, that is, the empathy.

As a new mode in China, the car rental market is disorganized and has low service quality. The evaluation scale is designed including five dimensions. The analysis results provide guidance on how to improve their service quality to managers in car rental industry in China.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the links between basic farmland preservation and land transfers in rural China.

The Chinese provincial panel data from 2006 to 2016 were analyzed with the use of Arellano–Bond linear dynamic panel data estimations.

The basic farmland preservation policy negatively affects the land transfer rate. In addition, this policy is most likely to limit land transfers between local acquaintances in the major grain-producing areas. Further evidence indicates that the basic farmland preservation policy has a negative impact on land rentals in general. Considering that land transfers such as exchanges and take-overs are excluded from rental transactions between acquaintances, the policy’s constraints on land use are likely to hinder land rentals between acquaintances, which are market-oriented.

Overall, this study’s analysis suggests that the farmland preservation policy’s constraints on land use rights are likely to result in a major diminishment of the rural rental markets. Under this policy, land that is designated as basic farmland cannot be converted to another use. However, it remains possible to improve the productivity of agriculture through other means. These possible avenues for improvement include enhancing the efficiency of production through expanding the scale of farming operations and developing the social services aspect of agriculture (i.e. the basic farmland preservation policy is likely to realize more social revenue than can be gained from land transfers). Thus, the arrangement of the basic farmland preservation policy in China can be managed in a way that is both economical and reasonable.

To ensure food security, China has enacted several laws and regulations to preserve basic farmland, and it has promoted land transfers to improve farm productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand whether the basic farmland preservation policy restricts land use rights and hinders land transfers that could improve productivity. This study provides empirical evidence showing that the basic farmland preservation policy is actually not conducive to promoting land transfers and that it even discourages the market orientation of land rentals between acquaintances. In dealing with this issue, the Chinese Government should seek to balance the relationship between preserving basic farmland and promoting land transfers.