I recently watched a YouTube video with an agent claiming failed Airbnbs and short-term rentals are flooding the housing market here in Arizona. We obviously see a lot of YouTube clickbait to get views, but I did wonder if there was any merit to it. I've felt that our short-term rental market has been oversaturated for the past few years, but it hasn't really translated into a lot of them selling. But since the topic came up, I thought I'd dig into it.
So I went into the MLS and searched every active single-family listing in Maricopa County for the words "short term rental" in the public remarks. Out of about 13,000 active listings, 13 came up. That's roughly 1 in 1,000.
If failed Airbnbs were actually flooding the market, that number would look a lot different. It doesn't mean short-term rentals aren't struggling. Plenty of hosts are dealing with softer bookings and thinner margins than a couple years ago, which lines up with what I've felt in this market for a while. It just means whatever's happening with those properties, they're not showing up for sale in any real volume, at least not yet.
So call this one fiction. The oversaturation feeling is real. The flood onto the resale market isn't, not right now.
If you own a short-term rental and you're weighing your options, or you're a buyer who's heard this claim floating around, I'm happy to talk through what I'm actually seeing.
Are you seeing an increase in short-term rentals hitting the market? Or do you know any short-term rental owners who are struggling and might have to sell?
Source: MLS search of active single-family listings in Maricopa County (ARMLS), September 2026.
