FAU Study: Short-term vacation rentals might be hurting South Florida residents

MIAMI - Thousands of short-term vacation rentals could be contributing to the rental crisis in South Florida.

According to a new study from Florida Atlantic University, short-term vacation rentals might be keeping units from entering the market that could instead be used as longer-term rentals.

It comes at a time when many areas in Florida wrestle with increasingly high rents and a severe shortage of affordable places to live.

To conduct the study, an FAU economist used anecdotal evidence based on discussions with realtors, developers, landlords, and brokers in the area to see what issues are contributing to the housing crisis in South Florida.

One of the issues that kept coming up was short-term vacation rentals and restrictions from condo and homeowners associations.