1731 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

I can get a room in mid September at the Marriott for a couple of thousand air miles plus $48 in fees, and that includes breakfast.

[victoriassecret]

This is why air bnb sucks. That maps search is trash

[VicHockeyFan]

This is why air bnb sucks. That maps search is trash

 

It does, but it beats any kind of a hotel search site still, I think.

[Rob Randall]

I can get a room in mid September at the Marriott for a couple of thousand air miles plus $48 in fees, and that includes breakfast.

That's a good deal, true. But what if it were you and seven other people? You could have a whole three bedroom house all to yourselves for $135.

[spanky123]

That's a good deal, true. But what if it were you and seven other people? You could have a whole three bedroom house all to yourselves for $135.

 

Or if you don't want something right downtown which is where most of the 3 star or higher hotels are located.

 

We can debate the accuracy of the Airbnb map tools but the reality is that the number of listings is growing extremely quickly. When you look at stories like UVIC students not being able to find accommodation and ask yourself why, in the space of 1 year, has the situation so rapidly deteriorated there are not a lot of reasonable explanations. It is not like the population of Victoria has exploded in the past 12 months or that UVIC doubled its enrollment.

 

What you can expect is the council will continue with its head buried in the sand on this and Uber. With people winning elections by 100 votes or less then there is no way they want to upset a service with thousands of local users.

Edited by spanky123, 28 August 2016 - 09:25 AM.

[lanforod]

It's not just AirBnB. Demand is also increasing, not just supply decreasing. UVic's enrollment is at all time highs - it hasn't doubled, no, but there are record numbers now, and most of that increase is international students, which all need housing.

It doesn't take much of an increase to have a big impact. 1000 more students is a lot of housing to find.

Edited by lanforod, 28 August 2016 - 09:31 AM.

[Mike K.]

Victoria's rental industry has always been tight. It's one of those things.

The reason we have a very low vacancy is not because of AirBnB, it's because we're growing, UVic enrolment is growing, Camosun enrollment is growing, and real-estate prices are rising. This pushes more people to rent. It's really just that simple, I'd say.

[Bingo]

It's not just AirBnB. Demand is also increasing, not just supply decreasing. UVic's enrollment is at all time highs - it hasn't doubled, no, but there are record numbers now, and most of that increase is international students, which all need housing.

It doesn't take much of an increase to have a big impact. 1000 more students is a lot of housing to find.

Students need to be hanging on to whatever they can find instead of leaving to go home for a few months.

[lanforod]

Students need to be hanging on to whatever they can find instead of leaving to go home for a few months.

 

You say that. Typically, I think most rentals to students are on a 8 mo or 1 year lease. Landlord then raise rents. I'm sure a lot of students stay in the same place. Some can't because of rising rents.

[johnk]

Friend of my wife has taken high school homestay students for years, about $8K Sept-June for one kid, all good. This summer she decided to try Airbnb thinking she might get $1500 over the summer.
Wahoo! She has pulled in 8 grand this summer with less hassle and no responsibility for teen students.

[Rob Randall]

^Omly one bedroom?

Our humble setup would be more suitable for a single student than as a vacation Airbnb. We are tempted to try it for a semester. a middle class income alone is simply not enough to maintain a house today.

[Bingo]

You say that. Typically, I think most rentals to students are on a 8 mo or 1 year lease. Landlord then raise rents. I'm sure a lot of students stay in the same place. Some can't because of rising rents.

But if they leave and come back they will be paying more rent anyways. Instead of going home to Korea to see the family put the money used for the flight towards keeping the rental, and have the parents come for a visit, along with a bag of money for their kids.

[Bingo]

This summer she decided to try Airbnb thinking she might get $1500 over the summer.
Wahoo! She has pulled in 8 grand this summer with less hassle and no responsibility for teen students.

 

We have had international students off and on over the years, and if you are fortunate they can bring culture and perspective into your routine.

Making 8 grand over the summer is fine if that's how you want to spend your summer.

[johnk]

We did homestays for years being jobless in Victoria when we arrived. It was a great help. Like anything there were highs and lows but we are now done and happily enjoying our whole house.
The woman I referred to was blown away at the huge and unexpected response she got. Dont know if she will continue but not a bad deal if you wanted fairly painless cash for home improvements or reno work. Pros and cons for both, for sure.

[LeoVictoria]

Victoria's rental industry has always been tight. It's one of those things.

The reason we have a very low vacancy is not because of AirBnB, it's because we're growing, UVic enrolment is growing, Camosun enrollment is growing, and real-estate prices are rising. This pushes more people to rent. It's really just that simple, I'd say.

UVic enrollment has always grown. Camosun enrollement has always grown. Victoria has always grown, and real estate prices have been rising at approximately the same rate over the last 50 years.
Airbnb is quite new.

The logical place to look as a major contributing factor to the current rental problems is what is changing, not what is constant.

[Bingo]

UVic enrollment has always grown. Camosun enrollement has always grown. Victoria has always grown, and real estate prices have been rising at approximately the same rate over the last 50 years.
Airbnb is quite new.
 

 

Groan. 

[lanforod]

UVic has actually been stagnant growth wise for a while until 2015.

[dasmo]

UVic enrollment has always grown. Camosun enrollement has always grown. Victoria has always grown, and real estate prices have been rising at approximately the same rate over the last 50 years.
Airbnb is quite new.

The logical place to look as a major contributing factor to the current rental problems is what is changing, not what is constant.

so reasoned so logical.... BAH!

[Mike K.]

UVic enrollment has always grown. Camosun enrollement has always grown. Victoria has always grown, and real estate prices have been rising at approximately the same rate over the last 50 years.
Airbnb is quite new.

The logical place to look as a major contributing factor to the current rental problems is what is changing, not what is constant.

 

AirBnB has been a growing part of our tourism industry since the service started in 2008. It has grown, but that growth has not been a sudden surge over the past year.

 

What has happened over the past year is this:

- Vancoverites have begun flooding out of metro Vancouver and into surrounding areas to escape high real-estate costs or to cash out. Victoria is a prime choice for many of them.

- Albertans have been flooding out of Alberta since the oil crash. I've got friends from all over that province who have reappeared in Victoria after a decade in the oil fields or in cash-rich Alberta towns making decent money.

- Retirees keep coming, and they'll keep coming for decades.

- Young Victorians are not leaving. They like it here, and gone are the days when every 18-year-old wanted nothing more than to escape the doldrums of Victoria.

 

AirBnB is a convenient scapegoat for a rental crisis born out of an anti-development attitude that has finally caught up with us. There's no mystery there, it's been forecasted for many years but now that it's here officialdom doesn't want to own up to why we're in the situation we're in.

[Mike K.]

Just to add to the above, this region grows at approximately 1% per annum. That means every single year, on average, we grow by 3,500 individuals. Since 2010 that has meant an increase of 21,000 men, women and children.

 

How many rental apartments have we built since 2010? Approximately 1,000 at most. Another 1,200 are currently underway and some 2,500 are planned.

 

By the time we build them all this region will have grown by over 40,000 individuals.

 

I hope this clarifies why there is a housing crisis.