Hailey and Bellevue, ID STR Market Report for Independent Hosts

Jul 24

11 min read

Updated: Aug 28

Twenty miles of paved trail run the length of the Wood River Valley, linking Bellevue to Hailey to Ketchum to Sun Valley in one uninterrupted ribbon of asphalt. Guests who book a short-term rental in Hailey or Bellevue are not booking a separate destination , they're booking a cheaper seat at the same table, a short pedal or drive from Bald Mountain's lift lines and Sun Valley Resort's ice rink, without paying Ketchum or Sun Valley prices to get there. That gap between access and price is the entire investment thesis for this corridor, and in 2026 it's colliding with the biggest change to Idaho short-term rental law in a decade.

On July 1, 2026, House Bill 583 took effect, stripping Blaine County, Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum, and every other Idaho city and county of most of the tools they'd used to restrict short-term rentals. For owners downvalley , where regulation had always been lighter than in Ketchum and Sun Valley proper , the practical effect is smaller than the headlines suggest. But it locks in the downvalley value proposition for the foreseeable future, and it's worth understanding exactly what changed, what didn't, and what it means for anyone weighing a Hailey or Bellevue vacation rental against a Ketchum listing twice its price.

The Demand Engine: Four Seasons, One Valley

Wood River Valley demand doesn't have an off-season, which is unusual for a mountain market and central to why Hailey and Bellevue work as investment plays rather than pure lifestyle purchases.

Winter: Bald Mountain and Sun Valley Resort

Sun Valley Resort is America's first destination ski resort, and Bald Mountain remains its headline draw , 3,400 vertical feet of consistently pitched, well-groomed terrain across more than 2,000 skiable acres split between Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain. The resort adds more than 25 miles of groomed Nordic trails and an outdoor ice rink, giving the valley a winter identity that pulls in skiers, Nordic racers, and destination travelers from well outside the Mountain West. That demand doesn't stop at Ketchum's city limits , it fills beds the length of the valley whenever Ketchum and Sun Valley proper sell out or price out a segment of travelers.

Summer: Wood River Valley Trails, Rivers, and Recreation

The bigger story for downvalley owners is summer, when Bald Mountain converts to a lift-served trail network with more than 30 miles of car-free downhill mountain biking and over 3,100 vertical feet of hiking and running terrain, while Dollar Mountain offers gentler hiking and horseback trail rides. The Big Wood River, which runs the length of the valley from Galena Summit south past Hailey and Bellevue, is a legitimate fly-fishing destination for rainbow, brown, and brook trout, with a season that runs from mid-to-late June through fall and heavy floating and float-tube traffic in peak months. And the Wood River Trail itself , the 20-mile paved path connecting Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum, and Sun Valley , is a year-round recreation corridor: running and biking in summer, groomed for Nordic skiing and snowshoeing in winter.

This is the structural reason Hailey and Bellevue work as short-term rental markets rather than single-season ski towns: winter fills beds on skiing, summer fills them on trail and river recreation, and the trail system physically ties every downvalley property to the same demand pool as Ketchum and Sun Valley.

The Downvalley Value Premium: Hailey and Bellevue vs. Ketchum

The pricing gap between Ketchum/Sun Valley and the downvalley towns is the clearest, most quantifiable part of this market's positioning, and it holds up under scrutiny.

The numbers

Independently sourced short-term rental market data puts Ketchum at roughly 102 listings (AirROI Hailey as of 2026-07-31), a $651 average daily rate, 48% occupancy, and about $31,740 in average annual revenue per listing as of mid-2026. Sun Valley (the town) runs close behind at 351 listings (AirROI, as of 2026-07-31), a $635 ADR, 47% occupancy, and about a leftover occupancy ranking we do not published market year as a year in average annual revenue , with occupancy, ADR, and revenue all trending up year-over-year even as active listing counts pulled back. Hailey, by contrast, shows roughly 18 listings (AirROI Bellevue as of 2026-07-31), a $342 average daily rate, 42.3% occupancy, and about $31,740 in average annual revenue , active listings there were still growing (roughly +8% year-over-year) while Ketchum's count contracted double digits. Reliable, market-specific data for Bellevue was not available through the trackers checked for this report; the town is small enough that most short-term rental analytics platforms fold it into the broader Wood River Valley rather than reporting it separately, which is itself a signal of how early-stage the market is there.

The headline number worth sitting with: Hailey's ADR runs almost exactly half of Ketchum's, while its occupancy trails by only about six points. That is a materially better revenue-per-dollar-of-purchase-price proposition for an owner buying a downvalley property, even before accounting for the far lower acquisition cost of the underlying real estate.

Why guests choose downvalley anyway

Guests booking Hailey or Bellevue aren't settling for a lesser trip. They're a 15-to-20-minute drive from the Sun Valley Resort base and the Bald Mountain lifts, directly on the Wood River Trail, and closer to the airport (Friedman Memorial Airport sits in Hailey) than most Ketchum lodging. For price-sensitive skiers, larger groups who need more bedrooms per dollar, and summer trail and river travelers who care more about proximity to the Big Wood River than proximity to Ketchum's restaurant row, downvalley is a rational trade, not a compromise. That's the "Sun Valley access without Sun Valley pricing" pitch, and the data backs it.

Ownership and Management Landscape

A fragmented, owner-heavy market

Hailey (2026 population estimate: roughly 10,360) and Bellevue (roughly 2,610) are still primarily working towns, not resort villages. Housing stock is a mix of long-tenured workforce residents, second-home owners priced out of Ketchum and Sun Valley proper, and a smaller but growing set of investment-only buyers. Blaine County's own housing authority and comprehensive plan materials describe Hailey and Bellevue explicitly as the valley's workforce housing base , the towns where employees of Ketchum and Sun Valley businesses actually live because ownership in Ketchum and Sun Valley itself is largely out of reach. That dynamic , a housing stock built for residents, with short-term rental activity layered on top of it more recently than in Ketchum , is what produces the fragmented ownership pattern: no dominant HOA-controlled resort core, no single master-planned development, just individual owners scattered across established residential neighborhoods.

The professional management gap

Professional short-term rental management in the Wood River Valley is heavily concentrated in Ketchum, Sun Valley Resort, Elkhorn, and Warm Springs. Alpine Lodging Sun Valley, described as the largest locally operated vacation rental company in the valley, manages 140-plus properties concentrated in Ketchum, Warm Springs, Elkhorn Resort, and Sun Valley Resort. Natural Retreats' Sun Valley portfolio is likewise built around Ketchum, Elkhorn, Warm Springs, and Mid Valley. Vacasa maintains a local office in Ketchum. Of the companies actively marketing in the valley, only a smaller subset , Michael's Vacation Rentals and Mountain Lifestyles Property Services among them , explicitly advertise coverage extending into Hailey and Bellevue, and even those firms describe that coverage as an extension of their core Ketchum/Sun Valley book rather than a dedicated downvalley focus. That's a meaningfully lighter professional-management footprint than Ketchum and Sun Valley proper carry, which means more Hailey and Bellevue owners are self-managing or working with generalist regional property managers rather than resort-specialist vacation rental firms , a gap that favors owners willing to invest in their own direct-booking presence and guest experience rather than defaulting to a management company that treats the listing as an afterthought.

HB 583: What Changed on July 1, 2026

The law itself

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 583 on March 16, 2026. Because the bill carried an emergency clause, it took effect July 1, 2026, rather than waiting for the standard July 1-of-the-following-year effective date. It passed the Idaho House 54-16 and the Senate 23-12.

HB 583 bars Idaho cities and counties , including Blaine County, Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum, and Sun Valley , from imposing short-term-rental-specific owner-occupancy requirements, caps on rental days, caps on the number or proximity of short-term rentals, extra parking or insurance mandates, mandatory structural upgrades, or mandatory reporting on rental activity. It also bars local governments from requiring a license, fee, permit, certification, or registration specifically to operate a short-term rental. Localities retain the right to enforce uniform health-and-safety standards applied equally to all residential properties , smoke alarms in every sleeping area, a fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide detector on each floor, removable escape ladders for upper-floor sleeping areas, and occupancy limits tied to International Building Code standards , along with general-purpose noise, parking, nuisance, and traffic ordinances that aren't written to single out short-term rentals.

What was actually being preempted locally

HB 583 didn't arrive in a vacuum. Idaho's 2024 Short-Term Rental and Vacation Rental Act (House Bill 506) had already barred cities and counties from enacting ordinances with the effect of prohibiting short-term rentals outright, while still permitting license fees and reasonable safety regulation. On May 21, 2025, the Idaho Supreme Court went further, striking down Lava Hot Springs' ban on non-owner-occupied vacation rentals in residential zones and ruling that cities cannot use blanket prohibitions on an entire category of short-term rental to route around the 2024 Act. That ruling put Wood River Valley ordinances on notice.

Ketchum's pre-HB-583 ordinance (Ordinance 1230, in effect since April 2022) permitted all short-term rental types, including non-owner-occupied units, in residential zones, but layered on a two-night minimum stay, a one-short-term-rental-per-parcel limit, and a requirement that each rental have a fire safety plan approved by the Ketchum Fire District , a plan-approval requirement the city is now working to strike from its code because it functions as the kind of rental-specific certification HB 583 bars. Hailey never adopted a dedicated short-term rental ordinance, but its accessory dwelling unit rules restricted short-term use to only one of two units on a lot, requiring the second unit to be owner-occupied or rented long-term (31 days or more) , a provision that functionally banned non-owner-occupied short-term rental of ADU pairs. Hailey City Administrator Lisa Horowitz has said the city attorney concluded that specific restriction may survive because it's structured as a land-use rule tied to unit count rather than an explicit short-term-rental prohibition, though that reading has not been tested in court and could shift as the city works through implementation. Bellevue never adopted a dedicated short-term rental ordinance with caps, occupancy limits, or a rental-specific permit , its pre-HB-583 framework required only that STR operators obtain the city's general business license, the same license any business operating in Bellevue must carry. That was already close to the practical floor under Idaho's Short-Term Rental and Vacation Rental Act , first enacted in 2017 and expanded by the 2024 Act referenced above , which caps what cities can attach to a short-term-rental business license (limited to an annual fee and a violation-history statement) and bars anything beyond that. Bellevue's community development director has said the state does not consider short-term rentals a distinct "business" for licensing purposes, so post-HB-583 the city will no longer enforce even that general business-license requirement against STR operators specifically , bringing Bellevue in line with the rest of the valley rather than requiring a separate rollback the way Ketchum's fire-safety-plan and Hailey's ADU provisions do.

What This Means for Owners and Investors

For an owner or prospective buyer in Hailey or Bellevue, HB 583's practical impact is smaller than it is in Ketchum, precisely because downvalley regulation was already lighter , there's less to strip away. What it does deliver is certainty: no city in Blaine County can now respond to housing-affordability pressure by capping non-owner-occupied rentals, requiring a rental-specific permit, or imposing extra parking or reporting burdens on short-term rentals that don't apply to long-term rentals next door. That removes the single biggest regulatory-risk variable that typically discounts secondary mountain-town STR markets relative to their primary counterparts. Combined with a fragmented ownership base, a lighter professional-management footprint that leaves room for owners who invest in their own guest experience and direct-booking presence, and an ADR roughly half of Ketchum's on occupancy that isn't dramatically lower, Hailey and Bellevue are positioned as the value entry point into Sun Valley's four-season demand engine , not a discount substitute for it.

the Crest & Cove intro·local SEO keywords that actually book·the five elements of a converting hero·how to compare STR marketing agencies·Asheville paddling spots worth the drive·Idaho spillover towns against AirROI pins·Destin against AirROI, not leftover year·Teton Valley against AirROI pins.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Idaho HB 583 and when did it take effect?

HB 583 is a state law that preempts most short-term-rental-specific local regulations statewide, including in Blaine County, Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum, and Sun Valley. Governor Brad Little signed it March 16, 2026, and it took effect July 1, 2026, under an emergency clause. It's the biggest change to Idaho short-term rental law in a decade, and it applies the same way to every city and county in the state.

Can Hailey or Bellevue still require owner-occupancy for short-term rentals?

No, not as a straightforward mandate. HB 583 explicitly bars owner-occupancy requirements imposed specifically on short-term rentals. Hailey's prior ADU-based restriction, which functionally required one of two units on a lot to be owner-occupied or long-term rented, now sits in a gray area the city attorney has characterized as potentially surviving on land-use grounds rather than as a short-term-rental rule.

Do Hailey and Bellevue require a short-term rental license or permit?

No Idaho city or county can require a license, fee, permit, certification, or registration specifically to operate a short-term rental under HB 583. Localities can still enforce general business licensing and safety codes that apply to all residential properties equally. Bellevue's community development director has said the state doesn't consider short-term rentals a distinct "business" for licensing purposes, so the city won't enforce even its general business-license requirement against STR operators specifically.

What can Blaine County communities still regulate about short-term rentals after HB 583?

Uniform health-and-safety requirements applied to all residential properties equally: smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, egress ladders, and occupancy limits tied to International Building Code standards. Localities also keep general-purpose noise, parking, nuisance, and traffic ordinances, as long as those rules aren't written to single out short-term rentals specifically.

How do Hailey's average daily rate and occupancy compare to Ketchum's?

Hailey's ADR runs around $342 versus roughly $651 in Ketchum, close to half, while occupancy in Hailey (about 42%) trails Ketchum's (about 48%) by a smaller margin. That gap makes Hailey a meaningfully better revenue-per-dollar-of-purchase-price market on a relative basis, even though Ketchum's raw nightly rate and occupancy both run higher.

Is there reliable short-term rental market data specifically for Bellevue, Idaho?

Not through the major public trackers as of mid-2026. Bellevue's inventory is small enough that most analytics platforms fold it into the broader Wood River Valley rather than reporting it as a standalone market, which itself reflects how early-stage short-term rental activity still is there relative to Hailey, Ketchum, and Sun Valley.

Who manages short-term rentals in Hailey and Bellevue?

Professional management is concentrated in Ketchum, Sun Valley Resort, Elkhorn, and Warm Springs, through firms like Alpine Lodging Sun Valley, Natural Retreats, and Vacasa. Only a smaller number of firms, including Michael's Vacation Rentals and Mountain Lifestyles Property Services, explicitly extend coverage into Hailey and Bellevue, leaving more downvalley owners self-managing or working with generalist regional managers.

Why do guests choose to stay in Hailey or Bellevue instead of Ketchum or Sun Valley?

They're not booking a separate destination, they're booking a cheaper seat at the same table: a short pedal or drive from Bald Mountain's lift lines and Sun Valley Resort's ice rink, without paying Ketchum or Sun Valley prices to get there. Winter fills beds on skiing and summer fills them on trail and river recreation, and the shared trail system physically ties every downvalley property to the same demand.

What ownership pattern shapes the Hailey and Bellevue rental market?

It's a housing stock built primarily for year-round residents, with short-term rental activity layered on top of it more recently than in Ketchum. That produces a fragmented ownership pattern: no dominant HOA-controlled resort core and no single master-planned development, just individual owners scattered across established residential neighborhoods.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

House Bill 583 just erased most local STR limits across the Wood River Valley, but a listing that still reads like ski-town-only marketing leaves three other seasons on the table. Hailey and Bellevue book year-round.

We help Wood River Valley hosts market the four-season demand pattern their AirROI data already shows, not just the ski-week rush. Send your Hailey or Bellevue listing to crestcove.co or call (256) 998-7502.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.