To the contrary.  Every house that is turned into an Airbnb property is a house that a middle-income person cannot rent or buy.

A three-day rental at one of the airbnb-type rental properties in SCA, priced at $395 per day, costs $1185 plus tax and fees that can range up to an additional several hundred dollars.  It can be said that only “elites” can afford to pay such high prices.  By restricting airbnb-type rentals we can make houses here more affordable to rent to a wider range of people and for longer than a few days at a time.  People who rent for longer periods have the opportunity to become part of our community.  We have a long history of welcoming such renters.

There are communities across the country – from New York’s Hudson Valley to the area around Joshua Tree in California – where local people of modest means cannot afford to buy or rent a house, because so many have been bought for Airbnb investment.  See these articles and Reader Comments from the New York Times, and an article from Outside Magazine.