Airbnb epidemic worries Toronto realtors

The prolific growth of the condos also saw the increase of renters and finally paved way to more and more people using Airbnb, said media reports.

It had become difficult for the management to figure out who was using the condos for short term rentals. The condo owners who rented out their units via a popular online platform knew that it was a wrong thing, but they still proceeded, reports said.

The neighbourhood in Liberty Village, as well as the waterfront and the Yonge and Church areas, were used as short-term rentals, according to a recent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report.

According to the study, sixty-four per cent of the places available in Toronto were entire homes or condos, which would be considered attractive rental properties. Realtors said that this shift was changing the marketplace and a big challenge for the homeowners, said media reports.

Realtors Brad Lamb and David Batori had come across several instances where people who bought condos for renting out, rented them out on short-term basis instead of year-long leases. "They tell me how they have very good returns on their properties compared to when they had annual tenants on them," Batori was quoted as saying by the media.

He said, “If they were earning $3,000 a month on that rental, now they're renting it out for $300 a night. It's not rented every day but if it's rented for 20 days out of the month they've doubled their monthly return."

Mayor John Tory stated that a report would be published this fall about the implications of the issue and its proceedings, said media reports.

Tory said that considering the wrath of the hotel owners who paid fees to the city, short-term rental market should be more regulated.

Toronto Centre-Rosedale Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, on the other hand stated that the city should come up with clear regulations to make sure the city was liveable, affordable and sustainable rather than targeting Airbnb, reports confirmed.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)