Living in Jacksonville Beach isn’t cheap, and beach locals say it’s only getting costlier, with home values continuing to rise.
Beach locals told Action News Jax Sunday that one culprit they believe is playing a major part: short-term vacation rentals.
“We’ve absolutely seen them drive the cost up,” said Jacksonville Beach local Erin Alban. “Our house has more than doubled [in value] since we’ve lived in this area, and we just moved here in 2016.”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Alban is one of several Jacksonville Beach neighbors who told Action News Jax they’ve seen home values soar and believe short-term vacation rentals are to blame.
“Some of that is just an overall rise in house pricing, but it’s definitely a lot worse out here at the beach,” Alban said.
A study by the Harvard Business Review found there is, in fact, a relationship between the number of short-term rental properties in a city and its rental prices.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
The analysis claims that “Because of Airbnb, absentee landlords are moving their properties out of the long-term rental and for-sale markets and into the short-term rental market.”
The Airbnb website shows 210 properties in Jacksonville Beach for short-term rental, compared to 307 properties for sale according to Zillow.
“We have a cluster of them. There’s one right behind this house. There is one down here. There is one across the street from over there,” Alban pointed out. “I have nephews who are getting ready to go off to college and are having a hard time affording even rental properties in areas around here.”
While Jacksonville Beach does have local ordinances maintaining safety and sanitation standards, they’re prevented from banning or regulating vacation rental stay length because of state law.
Alban said Sunday she’d like to see more regulations placed statewide on Airbnbs and short-term rentals like it, which she says ultimately would be a move putting locals first.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“If we don’t have the ability at the local level to do something, then absolutely it should be done at the state level,” Alban said.
Action News Jax reached out to Jacksonville Beach city officials for information on how they’re working to regulate vacation rentals and about neighbors’ concerns, but they were unavailable for comment at this time.