A newly released, data-driven report analyzing Arizona’s housing supply finds that short-term rentals are a small and largely local part of the housing market, while institutional single-family rental investors are the primary force reshaping housing availability and affordability—particularly in the Phoenix metro area.
What the Data Shows About STRs in Arizona
Short-term rentals represent a small fraction of Arizona’s housing stock:
- Less than 1% of all housing units in Phoenix
- Under 4% of total rental units
- Approximately 90% of STR hosts are individual owners
- Nearly 80% of hosts operate just one listing
These findings indicate that the STR market in Arizona is primarily composed of local residents, many of whom use STR income to offset rising costs, maintain homeownership, or support small businesses.
What’s Really Driving Housing Pressure
While policy debates often focus on STRs, the report finds that institutional single-family rental (SFR) investors operate at a scale that dwarfs the STR market:
- Roughly 33,000 single-family homes in metro Phoenix are owned by large institutional investors
- These holdings represent about 14% of the single-family rental market
- Phoenix has become the national epicenter of Build-to-Rent development, where entire subdivisions are built exclusively as long-term corporate rentals
Unlike STRs, these homes are permanently removed from the for-sale housing market, directly competing with families and first-time buyers.
Impact on Affordability
Federal and independent research cited in the report confirms that:
- Institutional investor concentration contributes to higher home prices and faster rent growth
- Large landlords raise rents more aggressively than small, local property owners
- Fee stacking and mandatory add-ons further increase the true cost of housing for renters
By contrast, multiple economic studies find that short-term rentals contribute only a statistically negligible share of rent and home price growth.
Why This Matters
Arizona’s housing affordability crisis deserves solutions grounded in data, not assumptions.
Targeting short-term rentals—most of which are operated by local residents—will not meaningfully increase housing supply or lower costs. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion of institutional ownership and Build-to-Rent development continues largely unchecked.
Effective housing policy must focus on the real drivers of supply constraints, not scapegoat small property owners and local hosts.
The full report includes detailed data, citations, and comparative analysis of institutional investors and short-term rentals in Arizona.