A new study from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows Utah added over 6,000 short-term rentals between 2021 and 2023, particularly in tourism destinations.
Over 60% of all short-term rental listings are concentrated in three counties: Summit, Salt Lake and Washington.
Summit County leads the state with approximately 23% of all housing listed as short-term rentals, according to the report.
Park City proper has the most short-term rentals of any city in the state, accounting for 41% of all housing.
Any lease less than 30 days is considered a short-term rental. The market is dominated by online listing websites including AirBnb and VRBO. Researchers used a data provider to account for all online short-term rental listings in Utah over the two years studied.
While short-term rentals boost local economies and tax revenues, researchers say they also increase property values and rents, and reduce the availability of long-term housing, especially in resort communities like Park City.
Local government leaders and Utah lawmakers have been actively involved in discussions aimed at addressing those impacts through state or local rules.
But University of Utah senior researcher Dejan Eskic said completing banning short-term rentals wouldn’t solve those problems.
“Even if we banned all short-term rentals today, we still have a housing shortage,” Eskic said. “Ban short-term rentals in Summit County tomorrow, are you going to see a lot of people occupying those housing? A lot of those housing that are short-term rentals are likely second homes to begin with, right? So it’s like we’re taking off the short-term rental status of them, but they’re still second homes from out-of-state residents. So are they going to make an impact on the supply? It’s unlikely.”
Moira Dillow, a housing, real estate and construction analyst at the policy institute, said property owners continue to see value in short-term renting as compared with long-term leases.
“If you were to go up to Park City now, the price you pay is way different than what you would pay come short-term rental in the winter,” Dillow said. “The same goes for a lot of these tourism areas. It allows these people to fluctuate those prices instead of just that steady rent. So it’s attractive.”
Researchers found that 83% of all short-term rentals in Utah are located within 10 miles of a state park, national park or national monument. Additionally, nearly half of all listings are located within 10 miles of a ski area.
Read the full report here.
