The Impact Of Short-Term Vacation Rentals. Democratic Perspective welcomes Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty to discuss the impact of vacation rentals on her city. Almost every destination city is having problems with the trend, which has evolved from the small scale short-term rental of individual homes to a huge industry via Airbnb and HomeAway and VRBO (both owned by Expedia).
“People are struggling worldwide to deal with it,” says Moriarity, noting that the rules in Arizona have centered on residential properties because the governor wanted to accommodate the sharing economy. Unfortunately, the industry has changed. Out of approximately 6,600 homes in Sedona, short-term rentals number about 600. And the number is growing.
“We do have to deal with the sharing economy,” she says. “The problem in AZ is that we have to treat all rentals the same – short-term or long-term. What we have seen here in Sedona is that investors come in and buy up single family homes and rent them to make money. It has driven up the price of homes. It also has driven up the price of rent.”
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