The new study, published by the Urban Politics and Governance research group at McGill University, comes with a major disclaimer: it was funded

Sally Goldenberg reports on a new report titled "The High Cost of Short-Term Rentals in New York City," which finds that Airbnb "exacerbates income inequality, benefits white hosts who own homes in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and renders thousands of apartments unavailable in a city starved for housing."

More specifically, the study "concludes that Airbnb hosts are responsible for removing between 7,000 and 13,500 apartments from the city's long-term rental market, driving up rents by contributing to a housing shortage and threatening to gentrify neighborhoods that have historically been affordable to non-white residents."

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Inside Airbnb followed up on the news of the new study, placing it in a chronology it launched a year ago, when it published a study titled "Faces of Airbnb: NYC, Airbnb as a Racial Gentrification Tool." Murray Cox of Inside Airbnb writes that post, offering an explanation of that study's findings and a chronology of the ongoing controversy and debate over the effects of Airbnb.

The McGill University study isn't the only news worthy development in scientific study into the effects of short-term rental companies, though the following crop of news originates from the West Coast as a result of regulatory changes.