One group is proposing the state convert 50,000 vacation rentals to long-term housing.
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144 thoughts on “Is Hawaii Saying Goodbye to Vacation Rentals?”
One group is proposing the state convert 50,000 vacation rentals to long-term housing.
We vacation in Kihei, Maui at a condo. We travel from Minnesota for three weeks in December. We have no desire to stay in a hotel for three weeks nor will we travel from MN to Maui for one week and stay in a hotel. The government has no business getting involved in eliminating short term rentals. Tourism sustains the island. Eliminating short term condo rentals will kill tourism not to mention Maui’s entire economy. There are plenty of other tropical island destinations that would welcome vacationers at short term rental properties.
With a few small exceptions over the course of 10 trips to six islands, we have always rented homes because it is far cheaper, roomier and allows for a more genuine experience. We’ll be in Maui in the summer, renting Air BnBs in Kihei and Hana. I checked rates for the Andaz Maui and the cheapest room for when we’ll be there is $1,173 a night plus tax. The Courtyard by Marriott near the airport? A steal at $469. We’re paying under $300 a night for a spacious one-bedroom in Kihei. Do away with short-term rentals and we’re out. Because we can’t afford to be in.
Steve. I hear you, but unfortunately that is what “they” want. Spend dollars or dont come mindset. What a world this has become. Who would ever think the most beautiful place on Earth would end up placing banners on Kaanapali beach stating No More Aloha! This is unexcusable and sad.
If you want to limit the visitors to only the wealthy that can afford the crazy hotel prices then shut down the str. Those in the hotel zone are a joke. Families can’t afford those prices and be able to enjoy what the lovely islands of Hawaii. Last time we looked at lodging prices we couldn’t afford it anymore. Sad.
The governor is being very short sighted. He may think he is helping with housing but how many houses will you need when all those who support the tourist industry lose their jobs? Cleaners, rental operations, tour vendors, servers in restaurants, tour boat operators. The list goes on. To help a few, the result will be that more are punished. Add to that, what local family can afford a median price of $800k for a house. Look who was crying for tourists when the pandemic hit…… He’s speaking to his constituents and not making sense.
And add the fact that STR property taxes are insane, plus add the taxes that are generated when you rent a STR. The government will need to cut their budgets because there will be income ge from the taxes when no one wants to visit Hawaii.
Aloha,
This is pretty interesting. When I first saw “Lahaina Strong” I thought OK, it’s a bit cliche, but I understand the need for a rallying point. Now “Lahaina Strong” seems to have morphed into some sort of radical political body that wants 50,000 rental units converted to long term housing at somebody else’s expense. The popular figure for homeless due to the fire was 6000-7000. “Lahaina Strong” wants 50,000 rental units surrendered. That’s about 4-5 units per fire victim, including children. I suppose the expectation is that the former rental units will be free as well? Hey, why not? You won’t be working, or is that the plan too? All aboard the free train…
Mahalo
As the saying goes, never let a crisis go to waste…
Bingo!
Decrease tourism and you’ll see Hawaii’s unemployment rates shoot thru the roof. One hand washes the other- then where will personal income come from and who will pay the taxes that run the state?
As visitors, a condo rental is the only way a Hawaiian vacation pencils out now. Do away with that and this middle class American family will not be able to return.
There are actually a lot of people who live and work here who have nothing to do with the tourism industry. And we sure did like it when Covid quieted it down a notch.
Keith,
They may have nothing to do with the tourism industry, however, they still depend on that industry even if indirectly. Tourism and the military are the two critical “industries” for Hawaii. All those folks receiving paychecks in those industries spend that money in businesses not directly related.
Let’s say someone is a barber or hairdresser. If other folks’ wages go down or disappear, some of their customers will use their service less frequently.
So, indirect is nearly as important as direct.
“A lot of people” is not enough to sustain an island. Most of the “locals’ that I know on the island who work in all trades, did not like the unemployment that “Covid’ brought them.
What’s going to happen when due to lack of people shopping? well cause Costco , Foodland , heck might as well close the ABC stores
I read a lot of complaints and almost no solution oriented comments. I believe the reason for that is that we are dealing with a multifactorial problem that defies resolution with any one act. 1) We have too many flights in and an aviation industry and a hotel industry that show little concern for anything besides huge profits. 2) We’ve developed a system that rewards profiteering on land investment 3) We already have severe traffic issues that will be exacerbated by more building of affordable housing. 4) Solutions needed to resolve issues such as these are fragmented in different levels of the government. Our capitalistic system favors individual and Corp. profit over community benefit. How can we coordinate our solutions?
It’s easy to blame the hotels and resorts, overlooking that local government is funding initiatives with TAT taxes-leading to the highest hotel taxes of any state. Poor use and misuse of funds is an underlying issue and has been happening over the last 10-20 years. Covid was an opportunity to solve issues. Instead there was
infighting, which continues. Vote smarter. The market will normalize to supply and demand with less government interference. If there are not enough tourists at the high prices, hotels will have to adjust rates. Where do you think all the homeless are living now? The hotels.
Affordability is difficult when government policy and over bearing environmentalist weight to policy.
Also. Note. Institutional buyers are skewing the market. Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street have deep zero cost investor funding. $29 trillion in assets to draw on. Short cash only escrow dead giveaway.
>>> What to do?
Portugal’s Maui, Maderia Island, placed a moratorium on new Vacation rentals.It has banned institutional buying.
Do same in Hawaii. And more.
Sarah Palin coined, drill.baby drill. Hawaii needs build baby build. Infrastructure and…
State and Counties, that received thousands of acres land for zero cost with the Melehe.
Lease it. Nominal $100 a month serviced lot, $25 for a condo. 200 year term. Build on this.
Sadly, there is a misconception that short term rentals don’t employ local workers. While short term rentals don’t usually include saily housekeeping services, most hotels have eliminated this service (and reduced staff accordingly). For some reason people act like hotels and resorts are locally owned. Why protect non-lical big hotel chains at the expense of locally owned lodging.
I would love to know what the long-time Islanders have to say. I have visited the islands yearly for many and Hawaii is my only happy place on the planet!! I love & respect the islands & the people!! I love Malama! It will devastate me not to come, but I will not stay in a hotel and pay ransom to do so!! Affordable housing will not be necessary because everyone on the islands will have to leave after another economic disaster happens with no tourism! Quality will not make up quantity. Didn’t they learn anything from COVID with the lack of tourists feeding the economy? Hanneman seems to be on a crusade, but sadly not for the people or the islands. More for his pockets! There IS a middle ground, but greed and money seem to cloud the vision!
I may have missed it but what is, very specifically, a STR? Is it a single-family dwelling formerly referred to as a “house”. Does it include condominiums?
We have mostly stayed in Condos and would likely continue to do so if reasonable in cost. We have stayed in STRs on Ohau and Big Island where there are not sufficient lodgings available the area. Lack of a STR in those areas would preclude our staying there. Which is maybe the goal.
I’m a retired teacher who bought a small condo 22 years ago. HOAs, state property tax, and “room tax” have more than doubled, making the Hawaii dream unreachable for all but the very rich. The state of Hawaii is already trying to drive out this STR with its taxing power; not realizing how much visitors contribute to the economy and how much we love the Hawaiian people. Mayor Bissen and Gov Grene have a responsibility to plan for affordable housing for the industry that now supports the state, now that “big ag” has moved on. Government has failed to plan in the past. Don’t destroy Hawaii by killing the golden goose.
We love visiting Hawaii, but have no interest in staying in hotels or resorts. We need the kitchen facilities a short term rental provides. This really seems to be a power play by hotel and resort owners. Maybe go after owners with many rentals, but leave other owners alone.
It’s unfortunate that they let this get so out of hand. I agree with other comments that vacation home purchases should be limited. Only large corps own 20+…. San Diego now has a limit on the amount of permits that can be filed and approved and they have a lottery for any new openings. If a property is sold, the permit is cancelled and open to the lottery. There are options other than forcing all tourists into hotels.
Fortunately, we bought a small one bedroom ocean front condo in 1999. It was built in 1970 as a “condo-tel”, it still says that in our declaration and bylaws. It’s not suitable for most people to live in, limited storage, tiny bathroom, tiny kitchen… just the very basics. Laundry room with three washers for the whole building, no amenities, has an office to rent the condos. That’s it.
Short term renting helped pay the mortgage, but it’s never great income.
Lack of affordable housing is a nationwide disaster.
One solution would be to outlaw business ownership of homes, and to allow one home owned per one social security number.
Home prices might fall 50% or more which would be a miracle for the young people trying to survive.
It sounds tempting, but I think affordable housing is a red herring. As mentioned elsewhere, it is supply and demand. Build more units generally and the pricing will go down. All of these attempts to control the housing market only end up making it more expensive for locals and visitors alike.
Limiting a house per person won’t solve your housing issue. If it cost a builder $300k to build a house it’s not going to sell for less. Until costs and regulation fees go down you won’t have cheaper housing.
Aloha from the ninth island 😊
Many of the vacation rentals are condos with exorbitant monthly HOA dues. Many of them north of $1000 per month. The makes them very difficult to afford for a homeowner and also difficult to have as a residential rental as the landlord would have to charge high rents in order to cover that. A lack of rentals plus high hotel rates are not going to be sustainable for Hawaii tourism to thrive. The state should put effort into attracting builders to create affordable housing for locals. I love visiting Hawaii but will not pay the high room rates regardless of whether or not I can afford it. I just do not see all of this working out in anyone’s favor.
I agree. We stay 1 to 2 months on various islands and eating in restaurants every day is time consuming and quite expensive, if you can even get a reservation. So we cook many meals in our rental units, which can’t be done in hotels. As retirees, we couldn’t afford to visit if these ST rentals were not available!!
Typical solution, tax and nothing solved.
The horse is out of the barn. Good luck putting the Genie back in the bottle. (Mixing metaphors to make a point.) This excellent BOH piece tells you everything you need to know about STR’s in paradise. I don’t even own a property and I took great exception to the “extractive and exploitive individuals” line. Good luck determining who exactly is extractive and exploitive. Lawyer up STR owners: Hell is freezing over.
I love Hawaii been there many times plan on coming back but if they get rid of short term rentals I won’t be back