The Hawaii vacation rental market faces major transformation with this controversial plan. Set to help address housing shortages, it will without doubt stir significant debate among residents, Hawaii visitors, and industry stakeholders.
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230 thoughts on “Updated: Hawaii Vacation Rental Legislation: Governor Says He’ll Sign Ban Approval”
This is an unconstitutional taking of private property rights. It’s a complete win for the hotel/motel lobby that couldn’t care less about housing. Many communities have studied this and found that STVR’s do not affect the housing market. Yes, they need to be licensed and regulated but not banned. The solution is building more housing. But it seems to me that most any new development is protested by the people it would eventually help. Hawaii government is corrupt. Where is the tax money going? Millions are being collected but no action, only « ideas » and « plans ».
Yes, billions in tax dollars… where is it going??
Also, Green was just in Japan twice promoting tourism to Hawaii? What about the US tourists?
Also, there are not near enough hotel rooms to keep the tourists.
Tourism will drop by at least 40 % . Jobs will be lost and more for real homeless… not just the many users on the street. Let’s talk about that for a minute.
Thousands of drug addicted people flood Hawaii streets on most of the islands. Why not fix that??
How do we stop them from being dropped off here? It is an issue.
Dee, attempting to find a solution to the Homeless, oops….Houseless, was tasked to the Lt. Governor of the previous Administration, that “Study” didn’t find any Solutions or even any Recommendations despite spending, throwing away, over $2 Billion Dollars! I believe that attempting to find Recommendations and Solutions to the Drug Problem would waste $5 Billion Dollars, possibly less, without any New Ideas.
The exchange rate is 158 yen to one USD. Most Japanese people can’t afford to come to Hawaii.
But it sure looked like he was trying to encourage visitors from Japan – maybe that was the point?
But Green likes Japan, so he essentially got two vacations at our expense.
Green is fluent in virtue signalling – speaking loudly about issues beyond his control, while ignoring problems he could easily fix.
The Yen just lost more ground against the Dollar. The lowest since 1990. The Japanese aren’t coming back for quite some time.
We know where the tax money is going, not where it should. Those greedy hands will miss it.
One question: i have been in my home for over 20 years, we are Polynesians , . Over the years, we have invested money as we had it, into a rat hole making it a home . And yes, over the years, it has gained value. So , now this $%^#@ governor will shut me down so that locals can afford a home….??????Will they be able to afford it?
I, will be a casualty of this @#$%^ governor and the results are what?
He will look good to the hotels and few locals…we should kiss the grounds we walk on for still having tourists .when you look close, Hawaii is a filthy, corrupted state. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you governor.
All “investments” are not guaranteed a return, yours included.
It’s appalling just how many people don’t understand that point, the one that describes that brow beating is definitely not an Olympic Sport. When will people stop, listen and realize it?
Thank you Nina! You are so right! Keep speaking up. We need to right now. I post on social media with public filter and ask others to keep reposting. We want the world to know what they are doing. God bless you and yours!
Governor Green, being a Doctor, knows how to keep his hands clean, pushing the ‘dirty work’ onto others. Green represents a distinct line of Governors that have certainly not made Hawaii a better place. P.R. people stretched the Truth beyond any semblance of the facts and truth, very few STR Unit’s have taken housing away from the needy public, but it sounds great to Green and the Hotel Owners. If Green is successful it in no way means that He won’t be held somewhat culpable in future court proceedings. I see litigation that costs Millions for Hawaiians. Lies, Retirement Funds, and Governor Green.
I’m all for local control. However are the state and the local governments prepared to pay the costs of litigation and to reimburse the property owners for “takings” when claiming the lost property values ?
This isn’t much different than mass confiscation or eminent domain actions.
State and local governments have to accept some of the responsibility for creating shortages in the first place. Typically, they only exacerbate when attempting to fix those problems.
KTLA in California. “The Santa Ana City Council has voted to ban short-term residential rentals within city limits. A recent spike in short-term rentals proliferated by sites like Airbnb and Vrbo has led to ‘a range of issues’ in Santa Ana, city officials said. ‘These rentals, typically lasting less than 30 days, have been linked to a range of issues including trash and litter, excessive noise, parking problems and neighborhood degradation,’ the city’s release stated.”
Irrelevant information in our case. I have seen and heard of issues with Airbnbs in residential areas but most are in the resort areas in what we call condotels.
Most of the Complaints seem quite petty, like they are padding the very few problems to bolster their own petty nonsense. Just another day in a Liberal Progressive County and State.
You never hear of a hotel guest creating a problem. If someone staying at an Airbnb is involved in anything as minor as a ‘fender bender’ it is always mentioned.
My Brother in law was head of security at a major hotel chain, for almost 20 years and he could spend a couple of days telling you about the bizarre activities he was involved with.
People are people whether they stay in a hotel or and STR.
Quick read of S. 2919. Am I reading this correctly, effective (if passed) in 2040?
I really do not see how this will help with housing, it sounds good but the cost of houses today in Hawaii and all across the country is unaffordable for the average citizen.
Google “Palm Springs capped short-term rentals. Now some home prices are in free-fall”
STRs on our islands have already been capped years ago, with no adverse effects on prices since.
Elsewhere in the US where STRs have been banned, there has indeed often been a slump in the prices of the more expensive properties that used to be STRs, but it has always been temporary. Investors have come in and swooped those up at bargain prices, causing the overall prices to recover and then some. Palm Springs is already recovering, as you can see by the data here:
rockethomes.com/real-estate-trends/ca/palm-springs
Bill, the properties involved in the places you quote here are not in the price range to make them “affordable” for the average resident. Please don’t get your hopes up about that.
Recovering? Downwards….
“In March 2024, Palm Springs home prices were down 13.9% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $650K. ”
redfin.com/city/14315/CA/Palm-Springs/housing-market
Interesting, as my link shows Palm Springs up 2.5% year-over-year for March. I guess we all find the data to support our positions.
Your example of the 1.4M house currently at $635K is purely anecdotal, and thereby pounced upon and sensationalized by the media.
Anyway, the proof will be in the pudding, as they say. Please let me know when you’ve purchased your 1.4M house for $635K – I’d like to get in on a few of those deals. 🙂
What did you say about recovering prices in Palm Springs?
Newsweek:
“A home in Palm Springs, which was sold in March for $1,400,000 and put back on the market some two months later for roughly the same amount, is now going for only $635,000—a price cut of $765,000.”
Patch
“According to the LA Times, sales are down and homes are “languishing on the market for months.” As of Friday, the oldest Racquet Club East listing has been on the market for 115 days.”
This article is on Hawaii. Many people don’t even know where Palm Springs is.
Mexico here we come.
I’m concerned about if the short-term rental legislation will affect us who own timeshare?
You will pay all the taxes. Dig deep
Who will pay the taxes? Tourists support our economy!!!
Those of us that live here most likely.
Alan W, I’m not 100% certain and after saying that it is doubtful that you should have any concerns. The Hotel and Timeshare Industry are Exempt from what I have heard. The Exemption Area seems like it was tailor made to make sure. Sort of like doing away with the Short Term Rentals won’t Benefit the Hotel and Timeshare Industry at all, by Eliminating the Competition. Wow, Do I hear DOJ Anti Trust Lawsuits 😳 Nah.
All indications are no. Timeshare companies are too organized and powerful and often owned by hotels.
Hotels and timeshares will be the only way to visit us if they have there way. The costs of those will be going up. In fact the timeshares here are selling like hot cakes right now, mostly existing owners wanting to ensure that they can return to their beloved Maui or other islands. Hopefully you own one here. They are already the hardest to trade into. Just wait and see how hard it will be unless you own in Hawaii.
It would seem vacation rentals are about to get more expensive.
Another attempt to take away your rights; in this case property rights.
Are you you now going to force the owners of these properties to rent them under your terms?
I’m sick of these politicians blaming everything from high prices to homelessness on homeowners.
Stop complaining and deal with the problem of expediting the building new dwellings . The solution is not what’s there but what not.
Not so simple. The aina and kai that sustain us, including attracting tourism, is endangered, right now.
Building more housing, willy nilly, without taking this into account, will cause irreversible harms to everyone and everything.