Chatter in Stowe about the influx of short-term rentals has often revolved around how those vacation stays are taking away from housing stock that would otherwise be available for long-term, perhaps even affordable, housing.
Local real estate agents, however, say it’s been decades since Stowe had that kind of housing.
“The reality is, Stowe hasn’t been a primary home market for a very long time,” real estate broker McKee Macdonald said.
Macdonald, who grew up in Stowe, said when he and his classmates rode the bus to school in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a “definite economic diversity of people” riding the bus, but that started to go away in the 1990s.
“It was moved out of town, essentially, and I think a lot of that is because whatever long-term rentals were there have just gone up in value and in cost, and it’s a shame, but it’s an evolution of a town that has been growing,” Macdonald said during a Sept. 27 Stowe Selectboard meeting. “If we want economic growth and viability, these are the growing pains.”
Macdonald and fellow real estate broker Pall Spera were among the latest voices the selectboard has called upon in the past several months to offer insight into the short-term rental scene as the board ponders whether to implement some sort of rental registry and create ordinances around those types of properties.
Although some have suggested the rising number of short-term rentals has taken away from what would otherwise be long-term rentals for people who choose to live full-time in Stowe, Macdonald and Spera both said the shortage of apartments and lack of affordable housing in Stowe pre-dates Airbnb and its ilk.
Spera said some pockets of Stowe, such as the Robinson Springs neighborhood, have instituted their own rules limiting rentals, and he suggested applying that neighbor-first approach to rules that involve less intrusive authority over individuals’ property rights.
“I don’t know how you do it other than by creating reasonable standards for coexistence, like good neighbors have,” Spera said.
He said that, while some people “obviously capitalize” on how much of an international tourist draw Stowe is and buy up houses to offer as short-term rentals, others are using their own homes as revenue to help pay their household budgets, which are getting more expensive every year.
“They’re proud of their property, and they want to live here,” he said. “When our reappraisal comes out (next spring), you’re gonna probably have some people saying, ‘Gee, can I afford to continue to live here?’”
In a town where, according to government officials, upwards of 75-80 percent of Stowe’s residential properties are owned by people who don’t live there, much of the property sales and transfers in town are from second-home owner to second-home owner, according to Macdonald. He added they are people with a “pretty strong connection” to Vermont, whether they had a family member who once lived in Stowe, or they attended college in Vermont. They, by and large, hail from Massachusetts, he said.
And when it comes to some of the concerns about owning a home in Stowe, with much higher property values — and associated taxes — than other Vermont towns, Macdonald said many out-of-town buyers don’t bat an eye. He said if a property is selling for anything less than $1 million, “it’s a lot of work” to beat the people who will scoop it up as a second home.
“A lot of people will say, ‘Well, you’ve got really high taxes here,’ but we don’t really ever get pushback on taxes,” he said.
“They’re not as high as where they’re coming from,” observed board chair Lisa Hagerty.
Planning for the future
Both Spera and Macdonald suggested the town look to its zoning bylaws to try and fix the housing crunch, by promoting residential growth in certain parts of town. Spera noted that, like when the old Ricketson farm on the far north end of town was conserved last year, those types of conservation efforts are “really good causes” that might be even better if they carved out some acreage for housing and “ancillary needs.”
“You know, basic needs that we have to go north or south to find,” Spera said.
Both brokers also said, when they are approached by people looking to buy property, the question of “can they Airbnb it” is high on the list, right after: is there internet? Is there cell service?
For all the concern about short-term rentals suddenly taking away other housing opportunities, Macdonald advised patience, noting that 2023 has already seen a post-pandemic decline in people seeking to offer those types of vacation stays. He said his office has received calls from people thinking about selling their properties because their reservations are down, and it might not be worth the hassle anymore.
“We are coming out of the most intense Airbnb short-term rental period that has happened since Airbnb has existed,” he said. “I believe there will be a market correction of some kind.”
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