The number of homes on Martha’s Vineyard registered as short-term rental properties shot up by 35 per cent over the summer, with industry professionals pointing to the real estate market in explaining the increase.
The number of homes on Martha’s Vineyard registered as short-term rental properties shot up by 35 per cent over the summer, with significant increases in every Island town.
Realtors, rental agents and listing agencies say the increase may be due in part to delayed compliance with a state law enacted in 2018 that required homeowners to register rentals starting on July 1, 2019. Anyone who rents a property for fewer than 31 days a year is required to register with the state, though only those that rent for more than 14 days are required to pay taxes.
But industry professionals also pointed to booming demand from visitors and a growth in home sales as investment properties in explaining the increase, adding pressure to the Island’s limited year-round housing stock as real estate prices continue to shoot upward.
Since March of 2022, the Island as a whole has added 884 properties to the state’s short-term rental tax database, from 2,552 to 3,436 in October. Edgartown has added 297 properties, Oak Bluffs has added 221, Tisbury has added 166, Chilmark has added 100, West Tisbury has added 64 and Aquinnah has added 36.
Joan Talmadge, who is an owner of the rental listing site WeNeedaVacation.com, which lists properties on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod, said that the site had added about 100 properties each month this spring, and that the Island had seen an increase of approximately 45 Martha’s Vineyard listings more recently, from 435 to about 480. Ms. Talmadge said she expected that number to grow to more than 500 throughout the fall, as more homeowners sign up for the summer season.
Every town saw an increase in short-term rental properties.
Every town saw an increase in short-term rental properties.
Ms. Talmadge attributed the growth in short-term rental inventory to multiple factors. When the state extended the lodging tax, formerly levied only on hotels and motels, to homes in 2019, many longtime renters pulled their homes from the market. Then, when the pandemic struck in 2020, another wave of homeowners stopped renting, either because they had concerns about the virus or because they decided to move into properties they otherwise might rent.
“A lot of those pandemic folks are coming back online,” Ms. Talmadge said.
As the virus has further abated, Ms. Talmadge said the short-term rental market has stormed back in even greater force — with significantly more listings and inquiries than in pre-pandemic years. She attributed that growth to broader shifts in the real estate market on the Island, with prices skyrocketing and the increasingly common use of Island homes as investment properties. She said the majority of new listings coming online are from people who have recently bought or renovated a home for rental.
“The other factor is that due to the hot housing market in the last couple of years, many people bought homes as investments, perhaps as future retirement homes. And in the meantime, they realized they could rent the property,” Ms. Talmadge said. “Many people who first buy a home here, they realize, well, we can’t afford to just vacation here in the summer. We have to rent it out. That’s the deal we made with the devil.”
On the Island as well as statewide, tax revenue from short-term rentals has been on a sharp incline. In its first year, from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, short-term rentals generated $34 million in new revenue for the state and $32.8 million for Massachusetts cities and towns. Those amounts rose to $40.6 million and $37.5 million for the year ending June 30, 2021, according to state Department of Revenue figures.
Though the state will not release total 2021-2022 figures until January 2023, preliminary figures from the Department of Revenue show that short-term rental taxes collected by the state, including local taxes that will be returned to Island towns, are poised for another big increase.
Anne Mayhew, who works with Sandpiper Rentals, said that her listing company also saw an increase in short-term rental inventory this summer, adding about 50 properties to its 650-home inventory. While Ms. Mayhew said the 50-property increase didn’t represent a spike, and attributed part of the growth to former renters coming back into the fold, she also pointed to an increase in investment properties on the Island.
“We are seeing some more high-end rentals, and there is a very high demand for them,” Ms. Mayhew said. “We’ve always had it, but there’s definitely a lot of money coming into the real estate market here, and it’s often investment, rather than just buyers who might want to use it themselves and also rent it.”
Demand for the Island grew during the pandemic, Ms. Talmadge said, particularly as international travel became more challenging, privacy became more desirable and work-from-home jobs became more commonplace.
“I think that the pandemic changed the whole fabric of vacation rentals,” Ms. Talmadge said. “These vacationers, if they have not rented a vacation home before, their expectations are perhaps higher. They expect more, maybe a hotel type experience. Years ago, you’d rent a cottage and be responsible for cleaning it. That’s not the case anymore.”
The Island has a long tradition of seasonal short-term rentals buoying year-round Vineyard homeowners, who list their properties for the busiest months of the summer to help pay their mortgage, often through companies like Sandpiper or WeNeedaVacation. But there has been a proliferation of luxury real estate companies setting up shop on the Vineyard in recent years, even beyond the advent of online companies like Airbnb and Vrbo. The hotels and villas arm of the Marriott Bonvoy now lists more than 20 homes on the Island, and rental management companies like Vacasa and Evolve have made significant in-roads as well, even sending new homeowners unsolicited mailings or letters asking if they are interested in listing their property as a short-term rental.
A copy of a letter from Evolve obtained by the Gazette and sent to a new homeowner on-Island says that the company offers a 10 per cent management fee to market and help book the property.
“Congratulations on purchasing a home in Vineyard Haven!” the letter begins. “Did you know that your new home could generate a lot of income for you every year as a vacation rental?”
Bill Rossi, a member of the Chilmark select board and Island realtor with Compass, said that most of his Island buyers are still people looking to live in the homes they purchase. But the lucrative rental market is also helping to drive the real estate market, he said.
“A lot of the properties I’ve been involved with, people want to use the property some of the time, but they definitely want to take advantage of the rental market,” Mr. Rossi said. “And there are rental companies looking for people to buy luxury properties and give them a guaranteed amount of rental income.”
The proliferation of short-term rentals has become a topic of discussion among Island leaders and housing advocates, including at a recent joint Vineyard-Nantucket meeting and at all-Island planning board meetings.
“There obviously is a problem with people being able to afford to live here because prices have gone up so high due to the pandemic,” Mr. Rossi said, also pointing to the inventory issue. “I think the housing bank, if that goes through, might take care of a lot of that problem. But we’re in a little bit of a gray area in terms of how it’s going to end up.”
Mr. Rossi said that he recently sold a home in Edgartown to an agent working with a company called Inspirato, which offers luxury vacation rentals. The 4,000 square foot, six-bedroom Katama home is the company’s first listing on Martha’s Vineyard, and will be used exclusively for rentals, Mr. Rossi said. It has a heated private pool and is a ten minute drive from South Beach. Inspirato listed it under the name “Harthaven.”
Comments
A similar scenario is
Frank Brunelle Vineyard HavenA similar scenario is happening in Vermont. It is worth taking a look at how Burlington VT is dealing with it, the reasons why, and how it is working out.
I live in Vermont and yes,
osuzna shelburne, vtI live in Vermont and yes, Burlington did crack down, to try to eliminate “investors” from buying properties to use as short term rentals. But this is a huge issue statewide, magnified by the pandemic real estate boom. VT currently ranks second in the nation for highest percentage of second home ownership. One millennial couple from CT owns 13 vacation rental properties throughout VT, purchased during the past four years. People looking to buy homes to live in cannot compete in this market, because investment buyers drive prices up and often are able to pay cash instead of financing. And people looking to rent cannot find rentals, because property owners earn more by renting short-term.
https://vtdigger.org/2022/06/28/burlington-city-council-approves-sweepi…
This is great news for
Rational Person Oak BluffsThis is great news for islanders. These vacation rentals provide much needed jobs for all aspects of our workforce from tradespeople to landscapers to cleaners to shop owners and hospitality workers etc. These properties are an economic boon to almost every working segment of our community. It's time to embrace tourism like other communities such as Bermuda do. It's time to shun the knuckleheads who put "It's tourist season, why can't we shot them", bumper stickers on their cars.
So where am I supposed to
Rational poor landscaper OBSo where am I supposed to live next summer in your vision of an island paradise? How many rooms for hospitality workers, cleaners, landscapers, cooks, servers, teachers, EMTs, cashiers, and bank tellers were added this year? Your logic has holes.
Why do you need to live here?
Rational Person Oak BluffsWhy do you need to live here? In the real world people don't think twice about commuting an hour or more for good paying jobs. It's your choice, the island community owes you nothing. Life owes you nothing. Get over it.
@Rational, guessing you are
Common Sense Newsroom@Rational, guessing you are either a boomer or only get your news from Fox. It's not a good thing when jobs are created that offer wages for $25/hr when a starter 2 bed is going for $1M+, groceries for a family of 4 are several hundred a month, and gas is $6 a gallon. What finance classes did you take in school that taught you that's sustainable even if you were offered $40/hr? Also, you're an idiot for comparing Bermuda and MV. Bermuda is independent and not subject to the laws of the US, so they can just make up their own rules as they go and charge you for anything and everything i.e. there is now a $40 fee just to enter since the pandemic started. Please go educate yourself before spewing your uneducated views.
I only have a Master's degree
Rational Person Oak BluffsI only have a Master's degree but I'm sure by your judgmental rules I'm still an idiot. $25 an hour is probably on the low scale of what employers are now paying but it's very attractive to workers from off island. You don't need to live here in order to benefit from our economy.
I want one of those "It's
Quitsa ChilmarkI want one of those "It's tourist season, why can't we shoot them" bumper stickers. More seriously, the growth of the short-term rental market has unleashed economic forces that will finally after 350 years convert the island from a place where a lot of people live and work in jobs unrelated to tourism to a "destination resort community". That means the population will eventually end up being just a servant class and a guest class. We're all ready a long way down that road and are reaching the tipping point at an accelerating rate. At this point, it is too far gone and too powerful to stop. It's like the erosion on the south shore -- the cliff edge moves back every year and more houses fall into the sea. It cn be slowed sometimes but eventually the sea will win and the houses will be gone. The traditional culture of the island will be washed away in a flood of cash.
Having a healthy tourist
Jim Feiner ChilmarkHaving a healthy tourist economy is great news for many people who live and work here, yes. It is also a problem for anyone who doesn't have secure housing. The huge rise in the value of rentals has corrupted the system and there have been no controls to protect the community that supports all the homeowners of rental properties. If community housing was protected and the people who relied on it had the ability to live and work with the security of knowing the are not going to be evicted or have to move multiple times per year I think attitudes might be different.
Bermuda is an interesting model where they wouldn't sell homes under $600K to non-bermudians for many years and after looking at the website their rental tax structure is pretty interesting. On income earned this is what you pay.
$0 to $11,000- 0.8%
$11,001 to $22,000- 1.8%
$22,001 to $33,000-3.5%
$33,001 to $44,000-6.5%
$44,001 to $90,000-12%
$90,001 to $120,000-25%
$120,001 and over-47% tax paid on revenues earned.
Maybe this isn't the best comparison but they certainly drain the incentive.
Good Lord! The solution to
Mark EdgartownGood Lord! The solution to everything isn't slap a tax on it, why must the affordable housing bloc always advocate for the taxation of homeowners. Look for pragmatic solutions like better year round transportation on/off island via fast ferries.
I see, as we have the same
georgia axt nantucketI see, as we have the same problem here on Nantucket.
It's all about the almighty buck, with no regards to how our workers live in squalid contitions to serve the 1%,
Shamefull
You compare us to Bermuda. In
Shane WTYou compare us to Bermuda. In Bermuda off islanders need permission to buy real estate from the government. Same in the BVI. In the BVI, housing are only open to Islanders, or “belongers” for the first year on market. So MV is the Wild West compared to those islands. And for the record, I’m fine with that.
It’s time to ban short term
Jason Bromley VHIt’s time to ban short term rentals on the island unless it is your primary home. Towns in the Hudson River valley have already done this and we need to follow in their footsteps. while no solution is perfect, our community is being gutted by year round homes being bought up and turned to short term rentals. We have started a list of all the property owners who are renting out second homes on MV and I encourage everyone to reach out and report anyone else engaged in this so we can know who we should meet with as we move forward with this ban.
I completely agree that short
Christine SengeI completely agree that short term rentals should be banned. We are seasonal homeowners who spend May through October on the island and I’ve done so for over 30 years. The house next-door to ours used to be owned by folks who also only used the home themselves. They sold it to a woman from Philadelphia, who said it would be her seasonal home. She lied. She only spends two weeks a year there and it is now a weekly rental. Every Sunday is chaos in our formally quiet cul-de-sac with a stream of service vehicles: The rental agent, the cleaning crew, the laundry van, the bike rental van, the kayak rental van, etc. We also have had to deal with renters who improperly store trash, and it ends up in our driveway because animals get into it overnight. I wish our neighborhood association would limit rentals to monthly.
Let’s go all the way and ban
Blythe OBLet’s go all the way and ban seasonal renters too. Only year-round islanders should have access to the island. You’re part of the problem.
Funny you should complain,
Long term resident Vineyard HavenFunny you should complain, when it's people like you who are contributing to the lack of housing on the Island.
The Bad news for Islanders is
Paul Bagnall EdgartownThe Bad news for Islanders is you can't find a place to live if you have to rent like a lot of people do !
I would urge people with these rentals to at least consider renting there proprties year round which is also very lucrative and provides housing for people who live here we need both!
Hopefully, the increase in
Cleveland E RockvilleHopefully, the increase in supply will make for more reasonable rental rates and greater overall demand. The more vacationers to the island, the more need for services and service providers.
After renting here for 25
Puzzled Vineyard HavenAfter renting here for 25 years we purchased a home here 15 years ago. We rent it out in the summer to help pay the taxes (property and personal property), mortgage and cover the costs associated with a 120 year house. As "Rational Person" commmented above, we hire many island tradespeople to restore, maintain, improve, landscape, clean and caretake our home so we can rent it out 8 weeks a year. We also are helping provide SIGNIFICANT money for Tisbury by collecting vacation rental taxes and we've been pleased to see those funds go into many wonderful town improvements.
I am puzzled by a couple of things raised by those who want to eliminate short-term rentals except for year round residents. Is that because year round residents will be the only ones who can vote to change the law? Is the quality of life on the island really adversely affected because I only live here 5-6 months a year and not 10-11?
How will affordable housing be affected by forcing us to sell a $1 million dollar house to someone who uses it as a "summer home" but does not rent it out? If you want to ban corporations from buying houses they never occupy, why not do just that?
These are all valid points.
Long term resident Vineyard HavenThese are all valid points. In addition, those of us who live here year-round would also see a drastic decline in property values if rentals were banned. Houses owned for short term rentals are typically expensive and would not be considered affordable housing. A glut of million dollar houses on the market would decimate the market for those of us who live here and are thrilled by the boom in real estate prices. In addition to a decline in property values, the towns would no longer benefit from the STR tax, and those shortfalls would have to be made up by year-round residents. Finally, banning short term rentals would be bad for realtors, stores, restaurants, and service providers.
Tax rates would also increase
Mark EdgartownTax rates would also increase dramatically if property values declined, seasonal / str owners subsidize the year round population with their tax contributions.
What a shame. When will
Chris OBWhat a shame. When will people realize that the STR market and summer rentals really help us. They pay the SAME taxes as us and use our services 8-12 weeks a year, if that. They don’t use our schools yet help pay for them. Plus they pay 2% of every purchase to the land bank. Plus they pay a heck of a lot more than we do when it comes to the trades and landscapers, because they must keep their properties pristine. Our workers make a lot of them, A LOT!
Now a practical solution is to cap any new homes from renting on a STR basis, but you can’t demand that someone live here full time. I would rather have an STR next to me then 12 people living full time in 3 bedroom house that is rented (it’s rarely ever taken care of). You can also stop new home building and only allow new affordable housing. There are things we can do, but jeez we really need to stop this anti STR and tourist rhetoric. It’s beneath us and is slapping the very people who helps us have a great place to live, play and work and raise our kids. Just stop it! Maybe if you open your hearts you will see that many of these people are awesome and really care about the island (donate a lot as well).
If it is too expensive to
IslanderIf it is too expensive to live here, as many oh here are mentioning, what makes you think it would be cheaper to own a home here. This attitude and entitlement of telling property owners what and what not to do with their properties is absolutely outrageous and you have not right! Need i remind everyone that only property owners are funding your towns budgets, your schools, roads etc...? If you rent or work here seasonally you DONT contribute to the towns budgets, you are only using the services that the rest of us are paying for through our homeowners taxes. Think about that for a moment.
Islander: I have built a
Sara Oak BluffsIslander: I have built a little cottage next to my own house which I rent out year-round to a good, reliable tenant. Indeed, her rent (to me) contributes to everything I do -- shopping, taxes (which is what I guess you mean by "the towns budget"), etc. as well as the property tax I pay. Thus she helps both of us live on the Island year-round (my home for 50+ years). Don't you think that the income from rentals of property is similarly used? Mind, I do wish the number of "short-term" rentals could be abated. I worry that people who come here "short-term" (for a week or so) have less respect and love for our home than you and I do. Some of them don't get that loud noise in the streets late at night is not a good thing, nor is throwing trash out of car windows into my hedge, nor is driving too fast, or screaming at us folk seemingly poking along at the posted speed. In other words, they have no pony in this race.
Eighty Percent. Yes Eighty
Rational Person Oak BluffsEighty Percent. Yes Eighty Percent of our taxes are paid by people with vacation homes on the island. They use few resources on the island as far as schools , hospital or town services. Are you all willing to pay four times more in taxes, and have fewer customers for your businesses if we eliminate the tourist trade? If so, your just an idiot.
People who rent homes pay all
Washashore EdgartownPeople who rent homes pay all the costs that homeowner accrues and that includes property tax. No property owner rents at a loss.
Unfortunuately, Washashore,
Puzzled Vineyard HavenUnfortunuately, Washashore, that isn't true. In the 15 years I've been relying on Short Term Rentals to help cover my taxes, improvements and maintenance, I have yet to make a profit. Like most people who offer Short Term Rentals, Short Term Rentals are only covering a portion of my expenses and I'm putting a LOT of sweat equity into the home in the off season. I do it so that I can enjoy the Vineyard I LOVE for 6 or more months a year in the off season.
I always find cowardice if
George Strin OBI always find cowardice if the array of fake names we continually see here since the inception of the comments option.
Noah's back, baby! Thank you
Tom Ellis EdgartownNoah's back, baby! Thank you for the intelligent, thorough, and deep journalism.
Surprising that nobody has
JT MVSurprising that nobody has really mentioned the fact that the tides have already turned on AirBnB(a company based on capitalism and greed), and once the looming housing crash hits(not an if), a lot of these 'investments' will have no choice but to begin the process of offering extended rentals to likely year-rounders, or sell. This winter is going to be very rocky, and by the time we come out on the other end we will be in a recession and a lot of people will simply not be doing their usual MV vacation(s). When this eventually happens, my one piece of advice to locals would be to get together and stand firm against the coming rents hikes by landlords who are upside-down or think their property is worth the exorbitant rent they will come up with to not have to seel. Good luck everyone. Still love this island, but a big shakeup is(and must be) coming.
My suggestion is the people
Mirian OBMy suggestion is the people work hard charge 60.00 a hour next summer.
Burlington City Council
frank brunelle TisburyBurlington City Council approves sweeping restrictions on short-term rentals
By Jack Lyons
Jun 28 2022
Look it up and related articles all over Vermont to find out more, but basically short term rentals in owner occupied homes are fine. Investing in homes to rent exclusively to air bnb harms the local economy by losing accommodations for workers.
Agree — I included the link
osuzna shelburne, vtAgree — I included the link to that article at the end of my earlier comment (second from top, below your first one). Hopefully the rest of Vermont will do the same as Burlington. Here it's not just the "million dollar properties" that are being converted to vacation rentals -- it's happening to all properties, including apartments that were formerly longterm rentals. A very sad situation.
As I recall the legislation
Frank Brunelle TisburyAs I recall the legislation provides funding for the transition and allows rentals of workers, students in need of housing and so on. The owners are compensated in some fashion and helped out financially. They retain income, but it is shifted to needs of the area. As a result the remaining rentals from local owner homes with short term rentals are stronger and more profitable as competition is lessened. It could work here.
Short term renters introduced
reality check mvyShort term renters introduced to the island via a week long vacation eventually become those 'dreaded' second home owners (who subsidize the year round populations and keep taxes low by not using the schools and only needing essential services for the few months they are here). As a former owner of a rental property, the happiest day of my life was selling it. I had year round tenants, winter tenants, summer tenants (full season) and never did the weekly rental. By far, the worst tenants were year-rounders and my advice to anyone thinking about becoming a landlord is ask those you know about their actual experiences. Has the home become a laundromat for the tenants friends and overwhelmed your septic system? Have the tenants been to lazy to have trash pick up and the skunks ennjoy the buffet? Have you had to listen to multiple sob stories about why they cant pay the rent, despite the new suv and boat and exotic winter vacations? Repair and replace sheetrock and hardwood floors because they left the windows open on a rainy day? Observed multiple animals on the premise despite the 'no pets' clause in the lease? Time to redoe the hardwood floors to get the smell of cat urine out of the house... have the pest control bomb it for fleas before the next tenant> To all of those complaining about lack of year round rentals you have nobody to thank for it except those who were here before you... Never again.
Before all you rabid money
Joe OBBefore all you rabid money hungry summer people ruined this island we could life here reasonably well and survive. You really contribute nothing besides traffic, congestion and a strain on the services of the island.
How many jobs do you think
Rational Person Oak BluffsHow many jobs do you think would exist here if there were no summer people? What do you think the tax rate would be when we eliminate those people who pay 80% of our taxes and use virtually none of our town services? Do you think we'd have the same type of hospital that we now enjoy mostly built by donations from seasonal residents? The SSA would run far fewer boats at a much higher cost for islanders. What about the millions of dollars in tax revenues from the sales tax and the short term rental tax? Also study some history. Between the mid 1800's when whaling was in decline and the late 1800's when tourism began to boom the island was an impoverished place to live. Is your suggestion we go back to that?
I think anyone who was here
Sane Person MVI think anyone who was here this summer can agree that this was just too much strain on the island. The tourist economy of the 1990s struck a livable balance, we have passed the tipping point now. As for the level of jobs created, why does this island and community need more tradespeople here? Why have more builders, landscapers, roofers working here? The island needs less people, both tourists, and year round residents. Tourists add to the strain by creating jobs that sustain more tradespeople, and frankly the island community just doesn’t need them. We had it great in the 80s and 90s before workers began moving here with dollar signs in their eyes. They are just as bad as any tourist or Airbnb landlord.
You must be a new wash-ashore
uh oh edgYou must be a new wash-ashore. Years ago, the island people lived in poverty. Doing some caretaking and painting, while the wives clean toilets for the handful of summer folks here. Then going on unemployment for the winter while scalloping 'off the books' for cash. Then, lucky for the island, those summer people bought homes (while those who got land cheap laughed all the way to the bank selling to them). Those summer people are those who are willing to pay inflated prices for mediocre goods and services. I don't know what you do for a living, but before those 'rabid money hungry summer people' came here, this place was an economic disaster. And the islanders made minimum wage. Its lifted ALL boats. Where else could you have no skills, buy a pickup truck and a lawnmower, and become a MILLIONAIRE. ( i know MANY who have benefited). You'd never feed your family opening scallops and doing some minimum wage tasks. And your property taxes would be exponentially higher if the only homeowners were those using the schools. The summer people come here and grease the economic wheels. They don't expect a 'thank you ' note in their property tax bill (even tho they pay MORE via personal property tax in every town or miss out on the discount in 2 others) They just want to be left alone and do us a favor.. leave your attitude at the door
Joe, OB-- Yes, without the
Puzzled Vineyard HavenJoe, OB-- Yes, without the "rabid money hungry summer people" life would be a lot like it is on the island in January. Not a lot of traffic, many local workers desperate for jobs and many local businesses and restaurants would be closed. When summer people are banned, many town services would not be provided because the tax money would be drasticly reduced. Since about half of the real property taxes go to fund the schools, you'd also be doubling your property taxes to provide a good education for your children and grandchildren. If you decide to go the route of banning seasonal homeowners, could you please do it before the Tisbury school gets built?
I read some information the
Lorraine EdgartownI read some information the other day: Housing purchases, 28% institutional purchasers, trailer parks, 23% institutional purchasers. That drives the price up and crowds out the buyers who want housing units for houses in which to live. How do we stop that? People are allowed to purchase what they wish. Unless, or until, each community puts on the brakes for that type of buyer. Much bandying about of reasons, etc., is not productive unless each community solves this type of investment buying by instituting rules and regs.
Lorraine's comments should be
Puzzled Vineyard HavenLorraine's comments should be studied further. I would like to have more affordable housing but I don't think a significant ban on short term rentals is going to accomplish that goal and will hurt the overall economy of the island. We should study the stats and see if a ban on institutional purchasers or "corporations" who never occupy the houses they invest in, would have an impact and what kind of impact it would have. *** I believe the number of STRs owned by institutional investors or corporations is probably a very, very small percentage of the overall total and may or may not have much of an impact. It's worth looking into. Most STRs are owned by people, many of whom are retirees or soon to be retirees, who occupy the house 5 or 6 months a year and have a decades long association with the island. Keeping their STRs and those of the people who occupy their homes 11 months a year as "year round residents", might be a compromise. *** Would this and the other initiatives to increase affordable housing, be enough?
I love how not ONE of these
Nick Dean Oak BluffsI love how not ONE of these comments is looking at ways to increase the housing supply. How come no one uses their high school econ class skills that says when you increase the supply the price of something goes down? let's look at ways to responsibly increase housing options instead of every town committee and the MVC vote down everything because it will destroy "the island character."
Most people want to increase
Long term resident Vineyard HavenMost people want to increase housing, so long as it doesn’t happen in their neighborhood.
It's all well and good to
A. Reader Oak BluffsIt's all well and good to suggest that lower income service workers commute to the island to do their jobs and leave the island once the job is done. This is a somewhat fair point at face value. The issue arises as property prices and in turn rent close to the ferry access points on the mainland increase these service workers will be pushed further and further from the ferry and will not be able to make the journey financially feasible to come to the island to do their work. Along with this why would they spend 1-2 hours or more commuting when the rates they get paid off island will be probably the same thus they would now potentially make more money than if they came to the island.
I'm sure some of the more well of folks commenting here don't really give a flip about the low income earners as long as they keep cleaning their homes, beautify their gardens and remove the trash caused by their over consumption. But hey we can find a solution at our next soiree.
And you think the housing
Washashore EdgartownAnd you think the housing situation is much better on the Cape?
It's not.
That's pretty much my point.
A. Reader Oak BluffsThat's pretty much my point.
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