Pasadena Sees 30% Drop in Short-Term Rental Listings

A three-year downward trend in short-term rental listings in Pasadena has accelerated during the ongoing pandemic, with a 30 percent decline in rental listings reported in November compared to last year, according to city officials and data.

There were an estimated 370 short-term rental listings in the city as of the end of November, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. There were 131 short term rental permits issued.

The figures represent a 30 percent decline over November of last year, when 532 listings were recorded, along with 161 permits, according to city data.

Listings have dropped off by 50 percent since 2017 when 735 short term rentals were listed as of the end of November.

Pasadena HomeSharing Network founder and President Lia Enkelis said over the past nine months the pandemic and the emphasis on social distancing that accompanies it has radically reshaped the short-term rental industry.

In speaking with fellow short term rental hosts, “I would say that 90 to 95 percent of those who hosted within their home — in other words, rented a room within their home — are not hosting,” she said.

Some hosts have decided they simply will not rent until the pandemic has ended, using the time to make repairs or renovations, according to Enkelis.

Others are transitioning from short-term rentals measured in days or weeks to longer-term rentals lasting months, she said.

“A good percentage of my guest-client customer base is grandparents visiting their grandchildren. No parents are coming from Wisconsin to Pasadena to visit their grandparents right now,” Enkelis said.

Visits to Pasadena from scholars and academic interns, which Enkelis said was another key driver of short-term rentals, have also dried up drastically amid the pandemic.

“Airbnb has done a very good job, I think, in conveying the requirements of the CDC for cleaning and sanitizing and disinfecting,” she said. “There’s a 30-something page PDF booklet that they send to the hosts and that you can download on the website that explains all the steps of how to clean, disinfect and sanitize your space.”

Enkelis said she doesn’t plan to host short-term guests for the time being.

“I happen to be in my 70s, and my fiancé just had double-bypass heart surgery, and he’s also just gone through radiation treatment for skin cancer. So he’s in a very vulnerable health group,” she said. “In the end. I just decided, for myself, I just couldn’t have people coming in and out of the house.”

She said she expected short-term rentals to spring back once the threat of COVID-19 has been diminished or eliminated, as has been the case in other countries.

The downturn “just seems to follow the COVID,” she said.

In a display of interest by investors that surprised even the company’s co-founder and CEO, Airbnb was valued at 100 billion upon its IPO last week, in which the expected stock price of $68 ultimately closed at $144.71, according to the New York Times.

More information on the short-term rental permitting process in Pasadena can be found online at cityofpasadena.net/planning/short-term-rental-regulations.