More than 2,500 short-term rentals have been registered within Anchorage, according to data from the city.
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The city’s data on short-term rentals – like those available on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo – comes after the Anchorage Assembly passed an ordinance in December requiring that they be registered.
Rentals available for fewer than 30 days are considered short term. The city levies a 12% bed tax on short-term rentals and has partnered with the platforms that advertise them, which now require a registration number for all listings on their sites.
The registry will help inform future regulations for short-term rentals, while also giving insight into the impacts they have on the local economy, Assembly Member Zac Johnson said.
Johnson, who represents Girdwood, sponsored the ordinance requiring the registrations.
“I wanted to figure out how we could make some informed decisions going forward, how we manage short-term rentals in the communities where they are most concentrated,” Johnson said. “Girdwood, you know, certainly is at the top of the list, but gathering the data means that we don’t have to make assumptions.”
Nearly 18% of short-term rentals are located in Girdwood alone, according to the data. A map generated from the data also shows a large concentration of short-term rentals in the city’s South Addition neighborhood, just south of downtown.
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“On the one hand, there are those of us who believe short-term rentals are having an impact in our community, that it does have an effect on the housing market,” Johnson said. “But at the same time, we also want to balance that against people’s right to do as they please with their property.”
Nolan Klouda, a policy advisor for Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, said the data will also help show how property owners are using the rentals, from helping to pay for their primary homes to operating businesses.
“You look at the situation differently when somebody needs to rent out a room in order to afford their home, versus somebody who maybe owns multiple properties and is making a business out of it,” Klouda said. “Those are some of the things that we can distinguish, I think, with this information.”
The December ordinance also came with the possibility of fines for owners who do not register their short-term rentals. The Assembly extended a grace period after rental owners and tourism industry leaders expressed concern over meeting the deadline during the busy summer tourist season.
The grace period now ends Oct. 1. Owners have 30 days after receiving a violation notice to register their rentals before being fined. Fines can be up to $1,000 per offence, the city’s clerk’s office said.
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Property owners can register short-term rentals for free on the city website.