May 1 first renewal of initial licenses in SD yields a small decrease in active licenses
STRO licenses in San Diego are valid for a 2 year period and the initial set of licenses issued by the city expired on April 30, 2025. These licenses are required for property rentals of less than a month, popularized by platforms like VRBO and Airbnb. The change in the total amount of licenses from April 2024 to May 2025 is summarized in the image above.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 licenses saw a 13% drop while Tier 3 saw a 4% drop. Tier 4 (Mission Beach) was the only category that previously had more demand than licenses available, and remains the same now. The Tier 4 licenses increased from 1,089 to 1,095, a 1% increase.
Across all license types the total number of active licenses declined by 6%.
For Tier 3 licenses (Whole home short-term rentals with the owner not living on property) the active licenses declined by 169 but the total available increased more than this number due to the licenses being tied to total housing units in San Diego. There are currently 1,085 Tier 3 licenses available while Tier 1 and Tier 2 are not capped so are available to any interested property owner.
Information about the STRO licenses can be found on the City of San Diego website at:
https://www.sandiego.gov/treasurer/short-term-residential-occupancy
