Desert rental market dries up

Operators of vacation lodgings in Joshua Tree exit after a boom

- ALEX WIGGLESWORTH

ANDREW Fortner, left, Patryk Swietek, Ryan Cherlin and Josh Rudin run Cohost Co., which manages 120 short-term rentals around Joshua Tree. Swietek says of the rental market, "During COVID, it was bonkers."

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times

Many Angelenos dreamed about buying cheap land in the desert during the COVID-19 pandemic; Emmanuel Ruggiero actually did it.

On his plot in Joshua Tree, the software engineer built a home specifically as a short-term rental part of a craze that saw investors seeking to cash in on people fleeing the stress and contagion of cities to isolate in more-remote locales. He equipped his modern cabin with 16-foot ceilings, a swim spa and a private nine-hole golf course.

Now, after two years as a top-rated Airbnb host, Ruggiero no longer wants to deal with the stress of managing a rental three hours away. He is hoping to sell his home for about $200,000 less than its appraised value when he first finished construction.

"If I had bought stocks instead of putting the money into the house I built, I probably would have made more," he said.

He's far from alone. Operators are exiting the short-term rental market in the high desert east of Los Angeles. This year, the Joshua Tree area has seen a drop in average available listings for the first time since the pandemic drove the number to record highs — with 3,449 to date, compared with 3,606 at the same time last year, according to data from AirDNA.

Some are selling at a potential loss in a real estate market that has cooled since the dizzying heights of 2020 and 2021. Others are seeking long-term tenants to offset their mortgages as they wait to see whether home sales pick up.