The Struggles with STR Data

Vacation rentals have transformed the local housing market, although their effects on property values and the housing market aren’t entirely clear. This map allows residents to easily search their neighborhoods, providing an invaluable resource for residents and leaders with a comprehensive view of STR activity.

Vacation rentals are listed on major platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Tripping and FlipKey, via niche platforms likes misterb&b and ThirdHome and marketed directly to travelers through their individual STRs websites. Not every rental listed on the map is currently active. Some homeowners may have registered their properties with the city simply to have the option of using them as STRs in the future, while others may only rent out their homes for part of the year. Others may not have a legal permit to operate, though do appear on STR platforms. Both individual rooms within a home and entire single-family homes are listed. Unfortunately, the city of Sedona does not provide data to differentiate between these types. Consequently, some users may find that the map includes single rooms in owner-occupied homes, while others may be entire houses.

Of the 6,808 housing units in Sedona, there are 1,116 short-term rentals, accounting for 16.39% of the city’s housing inventory.

Senate Bill 1350 (2016)

Rentals of less than 30 days were prohibited under Sedona City Code prior to the passage in 2016 of Senate Bill 1350. Such rentals were also banned in Jerome, Bisbee and Tucson. The legislature’s 2016 vote legalizing STRs was overwhelming bipartisan: 25-3 in the Arizona State Senate and 52-6 in the Arizona House of Representatives, with four absences. The nine “nay” votes were all Republicans. SB 1350 explicitly forbids town, city and county governments from regulating STRs, though later legislation did allow for registration, permitting and transaction privilege tax collection by local governments.

Some STR operators are homeowners renting out a room or casita to make ends meet or renting out an otherwise vacant second home or vacation home, as state lawmakers originally intended. Others are for-profit enterprises and corporate investors acting as de facto boutique hoteliers in residential neighborhoods.