Annual flood of tourists may be eroding Homer’s long-term rental market

Homer Spit. (KBBI Database photo)
Homer Spit. (KBBI Database photo)

Finding a place to live Homer can be a challenge.

The growing tourism industry makes it more difficult for year-round Homer residents to find long-term housing.

With just a handful of hotels in town, visitors have been relying on vacation rental websites and other vacation rentals, which may mean fewer rental options for Homer residents to choose from.

Anna Vanbuskirk is hunting for rental housing during the worst time of year in Homer.

After moving to town two years ago, she’s use to the scramble every spring.

“The first year I didn’t find anything really, and I ended up living in a 1978 tour bus on a gentlemen’s property because I couldn’t find housing with my dog and I,” Vanbuskirk said.

Vanbuskirk has moved four times since then, and she has just two weeks to find another place for the summer.

Homer Property Management’s Daniel Yager said several people come in with the same story every spring.

“They showed up in the offseason, they found a nice vacation rental that was going for a decent market price. When they talk to the owner, they expressed great interest in long-term tenancy, and those owners told them whatever they needed to hear,” Yager said. “At the end of the six-month term, the tenant basically just got the notice that the lease agreement isn’t extending and they must move out by this day at this time.”

Vanbuskirk moved into her house knowing it was just for the winter, but others are unexpectedly moving.

Kelli Parker moved into her current house last year with a six-month lease and the promise she could sign on for a full year come the spring.

Parker signed a year-long lease at the beginning of April, but couple days later, she was told her landlord had not signed the lease because he plans to list the house on Airbnb.

“I signed the lease and handed it back to him, not thinking I needed to have him sign his part right then,” Parker said. “After so many confirmations over the winter by email and then a personal one-on-one confirmation, I just didn’t see it as that important. I just took him at his word.”

Bay Reality realtor Gina Pelaia has been getting more calls every year from frantic renters like Parker.

“I know sometimes when I first answer the phone they say, ‘This isn’t a seasonal place, is it? We aren’t going to have to move out in May are we?’” Pelaia said.

Pelaia said more vacation rentals are making the long-term rental market incredibly competitive.

“This time of year, I’d say we’re closer to a 1 percent vacancy rate. More in the winter, we’re looking at probably less than a 5 percent vacancy rate,” Pelaia added. “I manage about 150 properties, and I think I have two available apartments right now.”

More property owners are capitalizing on the demand for vacation rentals in the summer.

Airbnb data shows the number of listings in the Homer area have grown more than 500 percent since 2014, with 160 hosts listing 250 properties.

Almost all of those are either apartments or complete houses.

What seems to be driving the growth is profit.

“On a monthly rental, the three properties, you bring in around $30,000,” Kit Barnett said. “On a vacation rental, you can bring in about $60,000.”

“It’s definitely worth the work,” Barnett’s wife, Phyllis, said.

The Barnetts are retired teachers and they say they need the supplemental income.

They listed the upper and lower levels of their duplex on Airbnb and other sites four years ago after one of their long-term tenants moved out.

After that filled up consistently, they converted their small house next door from a traditional rental to an Airbnb as well.

Phyllis Barnett knows plenty of people jumping into the market, but doesn’t think it’s anywhere near being saturated.

“I haven’t heard anybody complaining about their bookings,” Phyllis said with a chuckle. “I don’t know everybody, but nobody I know is complaining about it.”

She does think vacation rentals will eventually become less profitable as competition grows, but she said if that happens, she’ll turn her properties back into long-term rentals, which would be welcome relief for renters on the housing hunt.

KBBI - Homer

KBBI is our partner station in Homer. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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