The Woodlands Edition | July 2024

Real estate

As the popularity of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO continues to grow, cities such as Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North are joining The Woodlands Township in seeking to regulate them to address noise and trac complaints. According to 2024 data from AirDNA, a company which tracks short-term rental metrics nationwide, the industry in North Houston brings in an average of $1.27 million in total monthly revenue for owners. But it can also exert pressure on the housing market by reducing the number of homes available to sell, experts said. “People are bidding up [home] prices in The Woodlands,” said Adam Perdue, a real estate economist with housing market research company Zonda. Bram Gallagher, director of economics and forecasting at AirDNA, said the North Houston area has seen the steadiest growth in short-term rentals over the last ’ve years compared to the rest of the Houston region. Straying from short-term rentals

Number of short-term rentals per ZIP code: Short-term rental growth

2018

As of June 2024

77384

77385

15

32

+19

+47

34

79

2978

1488

45

242

WOODLANDS PKWY.

77386

77382

29

23

+107

+23

136

46

77381

99 TOLL

24

+52

76

77389

77380

82

34

+17

+41

51

123

N

SOURCE: AIRDNA˜COMMUNITY IMPACT

The impact

Why now?

Perdue said the growth of short-term rentals has also started to a‰ect the overall housing market by encouraging homeowners to put their properties for rent. “It becomes worthwhile for people to build extra homes to rent them out instead of [putting] them up for sale,” Perdue said. Short-term rentals in the region fell in 2021, but recovered quickly, according to AirDNA data.

passage of ordinances and ‚nes, although the DSC can enact certain controls. However, both Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North have dis- cussed measures to allow for ‚nes ranging from $500 to $2,000 for violations of their short-term rental policies. The city of Shenandoah had not yet approved an ordinance as of press time July 15.

The Woodlands Township’s short-term rental regulations are overseen by the Development Standards Committee and were established in late 2019. The cities of Oak Ridge North and Shenandoah did not have regulations in place prior to 2024. Township o€cials said the enabling legisla- tion for The Woodlands does not allow for the

Short-term rental regulations The regulations in place vary slightly by each jurisdiction.

North Houston rental growth

Regulations

Violations

600

The Woodlands Township (adopted in 2019)

• STR owners must apply on a yearly basis • $500 yearly compliance fee • All parking must be on property or in garage

Violation result in revocation of yearly permit

400

Shenandoah (proposed)

• Requires a permit from the city to operate

$2,000 šne maximum for violations

200

Oak Ridge North (adopted June 24)

• STR owners must notify city for tax collection purposes • Two people per bedroom, four cars per homesite • At least one camera onsite

$500 šne for violations

0

SOURCES: OAK RIDGE NORTH, SHENANDOAH, THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIPCOMMUNITY IMPACT

SOURCE: AIRDNACOMMUNITY IMPACT

36

COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM

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