TRUCKEE, Calif. (March 7, 2019)— After nearly a year of research, data analysis, and community input, the Mountain Housing Council of Tahoe Truckee has released a white paper examining the short-term rental market in North Tahoe-Truckee, California.
In the 51-page white paper titled Short-Term Rentals in North Tahoe-Truckee, the Mountain Housing Council (MHC) reports on the most current data and delivers the most thorough analysis of the issue the region has seen to date.
“The Mountain Housing Council took on the STR topic to understand, from a data-driven perspective, how they are both benefiting and impacting our communities, particularly locals' housing,” stated Jennifer Merchant, Deputy CEO-Tahoe for Placer County, an MHC partner.
MHC partners, including local government, special districts, and community organizations, all contributed their time and knowledge to the effort. The MHC hopes the data and research provide the groundwork for informed discussions about the topic of STRs.
“Short-term rentals are one of the hottest housing topics in the region, but until now all of the opinions have been based on anecdotes and incomplete information, ” said Stacy Caldwell, CEO of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, which leads the Mountain Housing Council. “This white paper gives community members and decision-makers a factual basis to have an informed dialogue, and make decisions that are grounded in research and data.”
The key findings of the report include:
• There are 38,937 housing units in the region not including condos and hotel-condos.
• Of these units, approximately 60% are second homes, up from 52% in 2000.
• Over 65% of the region’s homes are vacant 50% of the time.
• About 13% of the region’s housing units are registered as short-term rentals.
• In the Town of Truckee, approximately 20% of housing units are long-term rented, in Eastern Placer County, the number is about 8.6%.
• STRs grew by 81% in the Town of Truckee and 33% in Placer County between 2012-2018 — a portion of that growth can be attributed to bringing STRs into registration compliance.
• STR concentrations vary widely by neighborhood. In Truckee, Glenshire accounts for 3% of the town’s short-term rentals, while Tahoe Donner accounts for 52%.
• Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collected from STRs accounts for 60% of total TOT collected in Truckee and Eastern Placer County.
The Mountain Housing Council white paper is the third in a series of research and policy documents released by the coalition, comprised of 29 partners. The previous document looked at how development fee costs and complexity can be a barrier for achievable local housing projects. The full report is available online at mountainhousingcouncil.org/short-term-rentals/.
