Airbnb Caused Gramercy Rents To Go Up By $105 Per Month: Report

GRAMERCY, NY — Renters in the Murray Hill, Gramercy and Stuy Town neighborhoods are paying $105 more per month in rent thanks to the impact of Airbnb listings in the neighborhood, according to a new report.

A study released Thursday by City Comptroller Scott Stringer looks at the impact of Airbnb listings — which have soared in the last several years — on average monthly rents in New York City neighborhoods. Stringer's report says that areas where Airbnb opportunities are most popular — neighborhoods including Gramercy, Chelsea and Greenwich Village — have seen steep increases in the average monthly rent, at least part of which is due to the impact of Airbnb, according to Stringer's report.

In the Gramercy, Murray Hill and Stuyvesant Town neighborhoods of Manhattan, the average monthly rent has increased by $488 between 2009 and 2016, the report said. At least $105 of that increase is thanks to Airbnb, according to the report's analysis.

Stringer's office says the report is the first to empirically estimate the monetary impact of the vacation rental site on New Yorkers. The report pulled data on Airbnb rental listings and average neighborhood rents from 2009 to 2016 and used a regression analysis to estimate the company's impact. In that time frame, Airbnbs in the city soared from about 1,000 available in 2010 to nearly 40,000 in 2016. Those Airbnbs are concentrated in Manhattan, where 52 percent of listings were found.

"For years, New Yorkers have felt the burden of rents that go nowhere but up, and Airbnb is one reason why," Stringer said in a statement. "From Bushwick to Chinatown and in so many neighborhoods in-between, affordable apartments that should be available to rent never hit the market, because they are making a profit for Airbnb."

Stringer also noted that a majority of Airbnb listings available in New York City are likely in violation of local laws; a 2014 report from the Attorney General found that most Airbnb listings in the city were illegal. The state prohibits hosting renters for less than 30 days unless the unit's owner is present while the visitor is renting.

A spokeswoman for Airbnb said the company had "significant issues with the methodology" of Stringer's report. The company argued that Stringer's report overstated Airbnb's impact on rents in New York City because most people listing Airbnbs are sharing their own home, not removing permanent housing from the market and listing it full time.

"Unfortunately, this report is wrong on the facts, falsely asserting that middle class New Yorkers who share their space are responsible for the rising cost of housing in New York," the company said in response. "This could not be further from the truth."

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