Great interview by the Turnagain Times and advocacy for Girdwood by Assembly Representative Zac Johnson on the topic of Holtin Hills and community housing. (Turnagain Times August 24, 2025)
I recently corresponded with Dr. Brett Watson from ISER. I asked him about any evidence of a distortion from short-term rentals on the “market rate” of housing prices. He shared that studies are growing on the topic and suggest that STR contributes 10-25% to the additional housing costs increases for residents. (To be clear, that means if housing goes up 8%, 2% of the increase might be due to the pressure and demand of STRs.) He also noted that even “light touch” STR regulations results in a significant reduction in STRs and reduced housing costs from reduced demand.
So, what is “market-rate housing”? Currently, the description includes the impact of STR, which creates an artificially higher rate than would otherwise exist to meet the needs of community residents.
We need to come up with a new term to protect the idea of housing that is built for the market of owner occupied or rental units that is affordable to the residents of a community based upon the different income levels that exist, in a quantity that matches the income levels and availability of the housing to that level. Talking about “market rate housing” is at best now confusing, and I’m afraid avoids discussing the inflated cost of our housing markets because of the influence of short term rentals.
Perhaps this is “workforce housing” or “affordable housing.” However, both suggest low-income housing, and that’s not the intent of aligning the need for housing to all income levels and housing that is “affordable” regardless of income level in a community.
Ideas:
- Income-Aligned Housing
- Community-Based Housing
- Locally-Affordable Market Housing
As long as STR is a growth industry and we are fueling it with public resources like HLB, we should be clear that we are subsidizing a business sector, not housing for residents, when we claim to be building “market-rate housing.”
What’s a better name for housing that aligns to the jobs and income of residents in a community?
Ky