Rise of (Airbnb) ghost hotels casts pall over Toronto rental market

Toronto’s housing crisis is being fuelled by the emergence of “ghost hotels” — profitable, short-term rentals posted on websites like Airbnb that are replacing long-term rental housing — a Toronto Star/Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy investigation has found. “If [rental unit owners] rent it out to a tenant for a year, they make maybe a maximum of $2,500 a month for a one-bedroom [in downtown Toronto],” says “ghost hotel” entrepreneur Alex Tsoy, sales manager with Toronto-based property management company Simply Comfort Estate, which had 40 listings on Airbnb as of March. The largest number of Airbnb listings in Toronto as of March shows ICE Condos at 12-14 York St. at the top with 300 listings — more than 20 per cent of all units in the buildings.

Source: www.thestar.com