Hosts of Homer

Hosts of Homer Homer Short Term Rental owners, business owners and individuals who want to protect Homer's freedoms, liberties and property rights.

🚨 Short Term Rentals in Homer: The EDC is having one of its final meetings before making a recommendation that could fun...
08/10/2026

🚨 Short Term Rentals in Homer: The EDC is having one of its final meetings before making a recommendation that could fundamentally change how Short Term Rentals operate in the City of Homer. 🚨

HOMER — TIME TO SPEAK UP

⏰ TOMORROW • AUGUST 11 • 6:00 PM
📍 Homer City Hall

⚠️ The proposals being discussed could include:

🏠 Regulating Short Term Rentals
💰 Imposing fees
🚫 Limiting STRs
⛔ Potentially banning them in certain areas

📊 WHY THIS MATTERS

Short Term Rentals aren't just about where someone stays on vacation. They generate jobs, sales tax revenue, local spending and economic activity throughout our community.

Studies, including the Kachemak Board of Realtors' housing study, along with other available data, have demonstrated that the economic impact of STRs in Homer is substantial.

🏡 WHAT ABOUT HOUSING AFFORDABILITY?

One of the stated goals behind reducing STRs is to increase housing availability and affordability.

But there are other important facts to consider:

📈 Homer ranks #1 in the entire state of Alaska for new home starts.

🏗️ Local entrepreneurs are already creating new housing and finding innovative ways to address many of the problems these proposed zoning changes are intended to solve.

🌊 THIS DECISION DOESN'T EXIST IN A VACUUM.

Changes to Short Term Rental regulations could have far-reaching economic ripple effects — affecting property owners, renters, local businesses, employees, contractors, tourism and the broader Homer economy.

Whether you own an STR or not, this could affect you.

🗣️ COME BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION.

The EDC needs to hear directly from the people who live, work and invest in Homer.

👉 Come to the next few meetings.
👉 Listen to what is being proposed.
👉 Tell the Economic Development Advisory Commission how these changes could impact YOU and our community.

🚨 DON'T LET THIS DECISION HAPPEN WITHOUT YOUR VOICE BEING HEARD.

📅 TOMORROW — AUGUST 11
⏰ 6:00 PM
📍 HOMER CITY HALL

🗣️ SHOW UP. SPEAK UP. BE HEARD.

🚨🧐 Tonight the Economic Development Advisory Board will discuss short term rentals in Homer.Several EDC members have pub...
06/09/2026

🚨🧐 Tonight the Economic Development Advisory Board will discuss short term rentals in Homer.

Several EDC members have publicly supported limiting or banning short term rentals to increase housing availability and lower rents. The question is: what data supports that claim, and what would the economic cost be to Homer?

According to a recent report from the Kachemak Board of Realtors, the economic impacts of STR restrictions could significantly outweigh any expected reduction in rents or home prices.

Report:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tfeyyGLHE9OjX07SZ1-aj0ckaHd6hA1h/view?usp=drivesdk

Homer already leads Alaska in new housing starts, and many communities that restricted STRs have seen little or no meaningful change in housing costs or availability.

Join the meeting tonight, hear the discussion, and make your voice heard. Please share with local businesses, property owners, and others who may be affected. 🧐🚨

🤔❓ STR MEETING: Homer's Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDC) is meeting today and will hear a presentation on ...
05/12/2026

🤔❓ STR MEETING: Homer's Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDC) is meeting today and will hear a presentation on housing, short term rentals and zoning from the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD).

If you're a STR owner, business owner, worker in the industry, citizen, or individual concerned about property rights, please attend the meeting.

When: Tonight May 12th
Where: Homer City Hall

Tonight's Agenda:
https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/homerak-pubu/MEET-Packet-779c2643422e445aadb6eacf1f9206dd.pdf

https://www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/edac/economic-development-advisory-commission-regular-meeting-74 ❓🤔

🚨😵‍💫 A commissioner on the Homer Economic Development Advisory Commission recently proposed eliminating 1/3 of Homer's S...
05/12/2026

🚨😵‍💫 A commissioner on the Homer Economic Development Advisory Commission recently proposed eliminating 1/3 of Homer's STR by taxing and restricting licenses.

What would happen if Homer eliminates 1/3 of its short-term rentals?

----------------------------------

Using the KBR Housing Report’s count of 414 STR listings in Homer, eliminating 1/3 would remove about:

414 × 1/3 = 138 STRs
Assume each unit sleeps 4 visitors:
138 × 4 = 552 visitor-days lost per day
Over a 100-day summer season:
552 × 100 = 55,200 visitor-days lost

ATIA’s Alaska Visitor Profile shows average visitor spending of about $190 per person/day for all visitors and $216 per person/day for independent travelers, which is the better Airbnb-style comparison.

So the lost visitor spending would be:

55,200 × $190 = $10,488,000
55,200 × $216 = $11,923,200

That is roughly:

$10.5 million to $11.9 million in local business activity at risk over 100 days.
At Homer’s combined 7.85% sales tax, potential lost tax revenue would be:

$10,488,000 × 7.85% = $823,308
$11,923,200 × 7.85% = $935,971

Potential city/borough sales tax loss:
About $823,000–$936,000 over one season.
What about jobs?

ATIA reports that Alaska tourism generated approximately $3.9 billion in direct visitor spending and supported about 48,000 jobs statewide.

That works out to approximately:

$3,900,000,000 ÷ 48,000 = about $81,250 in visitor spending per tourism-supported job

Applying that ratio to Homer:

$10.5M ÷ $81,250 = ~129 jobs
$11.9M ÷ $81,250 = ~147 jobs

Estimated employment impact:
Roughly 130–150 tourism-supported jobs tied to that level of visitor spending.
And what is the projected housing benefit?

The KBR report modeled a much more aggressive scenario: essentially eliminating STRs entirely, with about 94 units returning to the market. Even then, the estimated effect was only:

~2.5% lower rent

About $34/month on a $1,350 rental

If only 1/3 of STRs disappear, the likely effect is much smaller.

Scaling the KBR estimate proportionally:

2.5% ÷ 3 = 0.83%

On a $1,350 rent:

$1,350 × 0.83% = about $11/month

Estimated rent reduction:
About $11/month, even under optimistic assumptions.
So the tradeoff being proposed is potentially:

$10–13 million less local business and sales tax revenue • Nearly $1 million less tax revenue • And the loss of nearly 300 rentals and tourism supported jobs in the community

…in exchange for roughly:

$11/month lower rents

That is an extraordinarily expensive economic tradeoff for a very small projected housing impact

The EDC commissioner's casual and intentional desire to put STR owners out of business with no mention of the ramifications of doing so is concerning. In a town heavily reliant on tourism this would have an extraordinary impact on our local economy in many different ways. 😵‍💫🚨

---------------------------------

The city is accepting public comments until May 15th.

Fill Out • Save PDF • Email To The City:https://homert21codeupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/03-31-26_HomerTitle21Revision_CommentForm.pdf

Email completed form to Shelly at the City: [email protected]

🚨 Please like and share this post with anyone who might care about or be impacted by these new zoning codes. If you want updates on this issue, please FOLLOW this page. 🚨

Data provided by a new report put out by:
📩 Kachemak Board of Realtors:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tfeyyGLHE9OjX07SZ1-aj0ckaHd6hA1h/view?usp=drivesdk

Our page Link:
https://www.facebook.com/HostsOfHomer

🚨😳 BE ADVISED: In the March 10th meeting packet for the Economic Development Advisory Board (EDC) which makes recommenda...
05/11/2026

🚨😳 BE ADVISED: In the March 10th meeting packet for the Economic Development Advisory Board (EDC) which makes recommendations to the Homer City Council, one of the commissioners submitted a letter to the city council regarding Short term rentals (STR). He proposes

"Taxes and administrative fees" " so it will make them (STR) all less efficient (fewer nights booked per year)." Then they can " shrink the number of licenses" " a tax or fee would reduce the demand for visitor-nights in a town"

Lets discuss the economic impact of what less nights booked in Homer looks like? What does His proposed 1/3 reduction in available units translate to in lost revenue to the city and lost income to every homer business who survives because people stay overnight in Homer. His full letter will be posted in the comments.

Source: City of Homer website (March 10th EDC meeting packet) 😳🚨

❓🤔 Did you know not all STRs would become long term rentals?Some numbers being shared online count every vacation rental...
05/11/2026

❓🤔 Did you know not all STRs would become long term rentals?

Some numbers being shared online count every vacation rental as a potential long term housing unit, but that can be misleading. Many STRs in Homer are seasonal and not designed for year round living, including Spit rentals, cabins, campers, tiny homes, accessory dwellings, boats, and even camping sites with summer only utilities that are winterized each fall.

Many listings are also duplicates from the same property. One home may appear as a whole house rental plus separate upstairs and downstairs listings.

When the Kachemak Board of Realtors reviewed the data and removed duplicate and seasonal only listings, the number of properties that could realistically become long term housing dropped to about 6.1%.

That number could shrink even further if owners were asked whether they would actually sell or convert their property to long term housing if STRs were heavily regulated, limited, or banned. For example, many owners may not want a mother in law suite occupied by a full time year round tenant.

This is important context as Homer discusses possible STR regulations and the economic impact those decisions could have on the community. 🤔❓

The city is accepting public comments until May 15th.

Fill Out • Save PDF • Email To The City:https://homert21codeupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/03-31-26_HomerTitle21Revision_CommentForm.pdf

Email completed form to Shelly at the City: [email protected]

🚨 Please like and share this post with anyone who might care about or be impacted by these new zoning codes. If you want updates on this issue, please FOLLOW this page. 🚨

Our page Link:
https://www.facebook.com/HostsOfHomer

❓🤔 Which city passed restrictions on Short Term Rentals (STR) and when, just by looking at this graph? The graph shows m...
05/10/2026

❓🤔 Which city passed restrictions on Short Term Rentals (STR) and when, just by looking at this graph? The graph shows median home prices since 2016. 📈❓🤔

Can't? Believe it or not, one of these cities passed restrictions on STR to try and ease housing and rental costs. Can you see any point in time for any of the cities where the price of homes suddenly dropped and deviated in any significant way from the other cities that didn't impose restrictions?

Still can't? ........It was Seward in 2023. Homer trends right along with not only Seward but other cities in Alaska. If restrictions are meant to reduce housing costs, why don't we see it with Seward? No meaningful deviation from Alaska and national housing price increases are visible as of yet. What is impacted when restrictions are put in place is tens of millions of dollars from tourism injected into our small town and untold losses of jobs, workforce flexibility, property rights etc etc. 🤔

Data provided by a new report put out by:
📩 Kachemak Board of Realtors:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tfeyyGLHE9OjX07SZ1-aj0ckaHd6hA1h/view?usp=drivesdk

❓🤔 Did you know? Short Term Rentals (STR) are often solely blamed for the rise in housing and rent costs when in fact th...
05/10/2026

❓🤔 Did you know? Short Term Rentals (STR) are often solely blamed for the rise in housing and rent costs when in fact there are MANY other contributing factors. Despite the claim however, the data says otherwise. Homer's rents and housing costs trend 📈 along side many other state and national averages. Homer is the #1 city in All of Alaska for new houses being built per capita. No other city even comes close. 💪😏

Even with a robust tourism industry supported by STR owners, Homer is leading ALL of Alaska in building new homes to keep up with demand for all of the various housing needs within our community.

Data provided by a new report put out by:
📩 Kachemak Board of Realtors:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tfeyyGLHE9OjX07SZ1-aj0ckaHd6hA1h/view?usp=drivesdk

🏡 Homer STR Owners – This Affects You 🏡 🚨 TITLE 21 ZONING UPDATE 🚨 The City of Homer is moving forward with Ti...
05/06/2026

🏡 Homer STR Owners – This Affects You 🏡
🚨 TITLE 21 ZONING UPDATE 🚨

The City of Homer is moving forward with Title 21 zoning updates that would create new regulations for short term rentals (STRs), including mandatory permits, annual renewals, enforcement authority, and the ability for the city to cap the number of STRs allowed. Could this lead to an eventual outright ban?

What makes this unusual is that the proposed STR regulations do not clearly identify what specific problems they are trying to solve. Other zoning codes typically reference impacts like traffic, noise, safety, infrastructure, environmental concerns and include findings or studies tied to those concerns. The STR section largely creates new rules and enforcement authority without presenting supporting studies or impact analysis within the code to explain why the codes are even necessary. Without the data and explanation one has no idea what problem the codes are trying to address.

At the same time, Homer’s Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDC) has reportedly been asked to conduct a social and economic impact study on STRs, yet no completed study or public findings have been presented before these zoning codes move forward.

With Homer heavily dependent on tourism, many residents are asking important questions:

• How could these regulations impact property owners, their livelihoods, their cleaners, managers, businesses reliant on their guest's business, overall affects to tourism, loss of sales tax revenue, jobs, workforce flexibility, housing investment when there's uncertainty on how the city may regulate moving forward • Should major STR regulations move forward before the economic and social impacts are fully studied and presented publicly?

Key Proposed Changes: • STR defined as stays under 30 days • Mandatory city permit required • Annual permit renewals required • City gains authority to cap total STR permits • “Use it or lose it” renewal requirement • Local caretaker/property manager registration required • STRs formally separated into their own regulated category

The city is accepting public comments until May 15th.

Fill Out • Save PDF • Email To The City:https://homert21codeupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/03-31-26_HomerTitle21Revision_CommentForm.pdf

Email completed form to: [email protected]

🚨 Please like and share this post with anyone who might care about or be impacted by these new zoning codes. If you want updates on this issue, please FOLLOW this page. 🚨

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Homer, AK
99603

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