With an end-of-the-year stroke of the pen, Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation last Friday extending state and local occupancy taxes now paid by hotels to short-term rentals such as those offered through Airbnb.
Against a backdrop of rocketing demand for vacation rentals on the Cape and Islands, state lawmakers are anticipating the passage of a sweeping tax on short-term rentals.
Saying it had not received enough public airing, Tisbury selectmen voted last night to pull a bylaw from the town meeting warrant that would regulate rental properties in town.
On the heels of a planning effort aimed at expanding Island housing opportunities, the Chilmark planning board has begun investigating short-term rentals such as those offered through Airbnb.
A series of recently-completed housing plans show a year-round population straining under the weight of rents and mortgages amid prohibitive building costs and the pressures of a seasonal real estate market.
In the next few weeks, almost a dozen families are being displaced. Kids out of college are finding nowhere to go; elderly people and adults alike are stumbling over the housing deficiency.
Using social media, a group of people are working to shed light on the Vineyard shuffle, the annual problem they say is afflicting the community even more severely this year.
The Vineyard's summer rental market is soft this season.
How low the market has slumped, reasons for the dip and long-term projections have yet to be determined, but real estate agents across the Island feel the hit.
Some companies slowed slightly this season while others experienced as much as a 20 per cent fall. Real estate brokers feel the pinch in a variety of ways — dollars, volume of inquiries, length of vacation stays — but all are reporting a downward turn.
Many of the agencies see a correlation between a jump in rental prices and the slowdown.
