A new bill, SB 2617 (below), is making its way through the Hawaii legislature that aims to prohibit some from owning property in Hawaii. It’s a contentious measure being hotly debated as it gains momentum.
If, for example, you’re a Canadian snowbird who owns a condo in Hawaii, this bill would impact you. The legislation intends to eliminate foreign ownership of property in Hawaii.
The bill includes thousands of pieces of submitted written testimony. Others have already chosen to appear before the committees reviewing the measure.
However, it should be pointed out that the office of the Hawaii Attorney General has raised the sceptre regarding whether or not this bill would be deemed to be constitutional.
Not deterred, one of the witnesses testified, “As a kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) I support this bill and no outside investors should be allowed to buy here. This includes military. You must be a resident and establish residency to buy here.”
“The bill may unconstitutionally intrude on the federal government’s exclusive control over foreign relations and by prohibiting foreign domicile areas from owning real property in Hawaii.”
Office Of Hawaii Attorney General
The Hawaii State Association of Realtors also voiced opposition to the bill. They added that there are a significant number of foreign real estate transactions in Honolulu.
The bill’s author, Senator Brenton Awa, wants to work with the Attorney General to find a way to make the bill work. He added, “Can this be done? Yes. Why hasn’t it been done already?”
Some have suggested that it would take federal legislation to be able to move forward with such a bill, which at a state law, it would not be allowed.
In a broader context, debates regarding restrictions on foreign real estate ownership are not uncommon, often arising due to concerns about the impact of foreign investment on local housing, property prices, and community dynamics. Proponents argue that foreign ownership drives up property prices, making housing less affordable for local residents. There is also concern about the potential for foreign investors to distort the local real estate market.
On the other hand, opposition to such restrictions centers on legal and constitutional grounds, as is the case with SB2617. In addition, opponents point to the potential negative impact on economic growth.
Finding a balance between protecting Hawaii’s interests and legal, economic, and social factors is challenging. Ultimately, the outcome can have significant implications for Hawaii property markets and an already dismal housing affordability situation.
Yesterday, the bill was deferred until February 13. We definitely will be hearing more about this.
We welcome your input here.
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Your one-size-fits-all analysis of timeshare ownership is too narrow.
I owned a 2 bedroom timeshare in Waikiki for about 20 years. My reason for going the timeshare route was my way of forcing me to take a vacation every year. Before that, I rarely took more than a 3-day weekend.
I bought mine from a reseller for about $5,000, plus the ever-increasing annual maintenance fees. Even with those increasing fees, it was definitely less expensive than comparable hotel rooms in Waikiki. I only missed one year. Two years ago I sold it to a niece for $2. Yes, $2, kept it in the family and I hope my niece will do the same when she reaches our age.
So, for folks looking to beat the hotel costs, timeshares can be a way to go.
Time shares are a nice way for those wanting to return to the same place again and again in a somewhat affordable way are great. For those that Love visiting Hawaii this is a more affordable yet committed way of doing so (vs. Hotels and Air Bnbs). The key is that you are financially committed. Timeshares are not necessarily investments with good financial returns, but can present cost savings for swmi-malahinis wanting to come to a beautiful place, Hawaii their regular short term vacation home away from home.
What a great story .. that’s exactly what others should do
If Hawaii does not want tourists, or fewer of them, why do they allow construction of huge hotels and resorts? And most all of the complaints I read being leveled at tourists are things that happen here in So. CA all the time. Many rude people try to cut in lines, are rude to servers, throw trash around, try to get “freebies”, drive erratically, etc. the world over. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and it is a mess anywhere near the city itself. We not only have tourists year round, but they actually Move here. I have been coming to Hawaii since 1969; with family for 36 of those years. We are going to Kauai on May, in a VRBO and we are concerned about how we will be treated🥺
The anti-tourist narrative that you see in some media is overhyped. Whichever island you go to, and whatever services you utilize as a visitor, you’ll experience nothing but kindness. People whose livelihood depends on visitors understand that very well. Whatever privately they may think they’ll keep it to themselves. Money talks. You’ll have great time. Just be respectful and kind in return.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of tourists actually move to L.A.? Who in their sane mind would want to do that? I’ve been visiting SoCal and L.A. in particular for many years, every couple of months and really enjoyed it every single time. No more. Crime is out of control, city is dirty, potholes are everywhere, traffic is nauseating and people are far from what they used to be. So sad. Despite all kinds of problems, Hawai’i is still a peaceful, beautiful place that neither the tourists nor the politicians have been able to destroy yet.
I honestly have no idea why people move to Los Angeles except the weather I guess. The Midwest and the East get pretty brutal weather. Also, we have a lot of jobs out here and then of course people looking to get into show business. We live in the San Gabriel Valley and rarely venture into Los Angeles itself. I was born in LA and lived there until I was 12 and we moved to Alhambra. LA has become a pit!
Shhh…listen carefully…that’s the sound of the big Hotels/Resorts cheering.
Even if it’s deemed “illegal” there’s more to come. This is just the beginning…
Aloha all. I’m 74 yrs old. First time in Hawaii in 1966. A lot of sugar cane and pineapple farms. Now I see in Maui some various fruit trees. Lemon ,limes orange? Probably on leased land from A and B. Why can’t you re zone some properties for residential projects? I live in both California and Nevada where many varieties are being built. Some multistory apartments. Townhomes Single family. ? Better utility options? Maybe even desalinization for the water challenged island. Think about hyro electric. Kauai has abundant H2O. More product lower prices.
The properties are already zoned and owned by certain families but after the illegal overthrow alot of the major sugar cane companies turned their land leases into sales and stole hundreds and thousands of acres of land from the people.. I advise everyone to educate themselves on “The Great Mahele” and maybe it’ll give you more of an understanding. Not so much ‘what’ is the problem and more so of a “Who”. Till this day everyone still thinks they have a say. The State will do anything to keep its stolen lands in their hands.
If housing prices are pricing residents out of the market – don’t severely restrict ownership. Build more housing to create a balance between supply and demand.
Don’t make Hawaii the last place people want to visit.
Nowhere on this bill does it explicitly say that non-Hawaii Residents are prohibited from purchasing a home. What happens when out of state US citizens buy up homes as non-owner occupied rentals? What about US corporations such as banks that are buying land not only in Hawaii but also across the US for profit? Where is the regulation there? This bill is xenophobic and places the blame solely on one group of people when in fact this is a complex issue. This bill is political grandstanding and unconstitutional.
There is a difference between long-term rentals and short-term rentals.
Long-term rentals are for residents. Residents vote.
Short-term rentals are for visitors. Visitors do not vote.
You can see why those in office might choose to discriminate against one of these types of housing vs. the other, unconstitutional or not.
Sure but their focus should be on owner occupied homes for Hawaii residents. People are unaware that there are plenty of tax paying immigrants/non-US citizens in Hawaii that legally live, work and serve communities there and are considered Hawaii residents. They are just as out-priced as any other person foreign or domestic because Hawaii has restrictive laws on how much homes can be built. So its not just a demand issue but a supply issue too. The bill would have people believe (and demonize) that all individual non-US citizens are the problem when in truth its big corporations ie banks etc. (foreign and US) that have all the money to buy out all those lands, not individual working-class families that are based in Hawaii.
First they want to stop foreigners from owning. When that doesn’t make things better, they will try to ban non-residents.
If a law passes, it will have “unintended” consequences.
Banning “rich” foreigners is easy. Building affordable housing is hard.
Exactly, the State is the problem. There is no effort being done for the people, affordable condos and apartments that they come up with are a joke, they have more than enough land to built houses and it’s sad to say that habitat is doing a way better job housing residents than the states Hawaiian homes association. Just sad.
So how do you have affordable housing when the land and fees cost so much, and so do the materials?
Are you suggesting that tax payers subsidize your rent for perpetuity?
If you oppose this bill, you are probably either foreign investor or someone who does not live in Hawaii and may have difficulty appreciating the depth of our housing issues. Our young people are leaving in droves because they are unable to afford to live here and home ownership and rentals are the major stumbling block. It isn’t as if, you can move to a nearby town if you are unable to find housing. These are islands, and the inability to find housing usually means moving to another state. Try not to be so cavalier and uncaring. We are at a place where it is not enough to do something. We must do everything. The legislature is examining the possibilities here. Please let them do just that.
David you must realize this problem is bigger than Hawaii.
Big Government, Big Business, and Big Banks have colluded to inflate housing prices to the point that young people can’t even afford to rent, let alone hope to own a home anywhere. The Hawaiian bill is a start but it doesn’t do enough. Corporate and multifamily investors must also be outlawed to save the American Dream.
Aloha David D,
It has been my observation that if real estate has no value, then you probably do not want to live there. If a dishwasher level income allows you to buy a house, then you also probably do not want to live there either. Home ownership is actually not a right; it has an economic entry requirement, determined by supply and demand. I have an idea; why don’t you rent out your house to provide some of the much needed housing you advocate for and move back to the mainland?
Mahalo
Seen it before. Agreed woe is me . Poor me. Push the blame. Time to open your eyes
I can see from the tone of this conversation in many instances, that it is primarily about profit, selfish self interest, and ignorance of the existing circumstances on the ground combined within a sad lack of compassion. You don’t know me, Gerry, so why would you think you can give me advice?
Aloha,
It’s easy David. Let’s look at your wording: “If you oppose this bill, you are probably either foreign investor or someone who does not live in Hawaii…” and “I can see from the tone of this conversation in many instances, that it is primarily about profit, selfish self interest, and ignorance…” so which camp are you in? Rules for thee but not for me, or I can’t afford to buy a place so you need to surrender your property is I can live there?
Mahalo
David, there are problems like this all over the country. I just read that a new bulding in detroit has 1 bdrms startiing at 4k…in detroit.
I live in so cal and pricing is similar i hear near me.
Its not just hawaii its everywhere now. People are going to have to start realizing that just because they grew up somewhere does not mean they can afford to live there. Thats just a fact of life
Or people can say they will not be slaves to Big Government, Business, and Banks and demand that Corporations, Foreign Entities, and Multifamily investors no longer be allowed to buy residential housing and given a timeframe to divest.
Desperate times…….
Definitely need to shut down all the homes converted to short term rentals….that’s where your homes went. Unfortunately Hawaii gov is very corrupt. They will attack the only economy Hawaii has and that is tourism. More fees, higher taxes, less access and less Aloha. This will reduce tourism and there will be less jobs . And then your children will have to leave to find jobs. There isn’t a right to live where you grew up. My dad left, I left, and my son left…..and I’m guessing my grandsons will have to leave as well. Yes we have to travel to visit but have blessed lives. It’s a big world out there
Sigh…I don’t know how many times I have to explain this.
At least on Maui, there is a small number of houses that used to be long-term but are now used as short-term rentals.
Most of the rest of the existing short-term rentals were built AS short-term rentals back in the 1960s and 70s. Nobody took those away from anybody – they were Always STRs.
Returning the few houses that used to be long-term wouldn’t even make a blip.
The only way to make headway is to build more housing. Economics 101. Check the published studies on this subject, and all the communities that have done this, to see the positive effect building new housing has had on housing supply and prices.
What about timeshares?
Susan M.
Timeshares are neither an investment, nor the housing units. They’re nothing but prepaid hotel rooms. Kind of a scam for people who cannot afford condos or houses to get an illusion they own something in some fancy location. Those 40 or 60K people drop on a timeshare, would better serve them if properly invested. Then the principal plus returns would pay for many years of great vacations without having your cash tied in something you can’t even sell for profit.
Instead of Hawai’i looking for alternative sources of revenue, they just continue to go back to tourism, taxes and now housing. Which really is just back to taxes. For all the money Hawaiian’s load up and take to Las Vegas, it boggles my mind why they don’t just keep it here. Online gaming – no crime. Online poker – no crime. No excuses anymore not to get a piece of that pie. Everyone is “fee’d” out. Lastly, trying to create some rule not to allow Foreign buyers is a Federal decision and HI politicians are just grandstanding to their constituents.
Be careful what you wish for! When tourism slows to a stop and all the hotels and condos and timeshares are empty and valueless then what? No incomes, no food no livable life. Think constructively not destructively.
This bill is unconstitutional!
Private investment management companies and the military have a huge impact on our local housing, property prices, and community dynamics and we rarely hear about them. Please keep us informed. Mahalo, Karen in Ewa Beach
yes…but to stop rentals owned by off island homeowners who have no real stake here except to make money. These should be prohibited. Out neighborhoods are being destroyed. long time residents are being evicted to make way for higher paying vacationers (and FEMA renters).. This is a big problem
Prohibit owners from all other states from owning property in this state? So should the laws of every state change to forbid those from other states to own property in that state? That’s not possible unless laws are changed at the Federal level, which ain’t gonna happen.
Much as some would like it to be, Hawaii isn’t an exception, exempt from the laws that are abided by in other states. It’s futile to pretend that it is an exception.
I can’t believe my tax money is being wasted on these proposed bills that are illegal and therefore can’t go anywhere, so that these politicians can do their grandiose posturing. Their bills are frivolous and those that propose them should be fined accordingly. That would stop this nonsense.
What is Hawaii so afraid of? My gosh.
if you lived here you would know.
That’s right… Blame everybody but yourselves and your cronies. The bill is patently unconstitutional…
Best Regards
That’s what Hawaii does best. It’s not me it’s them
Would current foreign ownership be grandfathered in and this only apply to new purchases? Why not go after corporate ownership of rental property instead? That’s what Las Vegas/Clark County, which already severely restricts STRs, is targeting.
Very ironic that BOH used Canadian Snowbirds as an example. Since 2022 Canada has made foreign home buying illegal, and extended the ban to 2027.
This is a great start, however the evil of corporate home ownership and investment home ownership must also be outlawed.
As I have stated here multiple times- a rule limiting one home ownership to one social security number might be a solution to the growing disaster for young US citizens.
I don’t have the ability to buy a second home in hawaii but dont want to stop those that can, at least US citizens…i can understand limiting foreign owners…perhaps hawaii could match canadas law regarding that?
The Canadian federal government did just this. In 2022, the Canadian federal government passed the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act to ban foreign investors from buying residential property in Canada and to ensure the housing market remains available to Canadians. It can be done at the federal level. I doubt a state could do it.
Canadian here. The law you refer to is widely known to have so many loopholes in it as to be useless in reducing foreign ownership. It is a perfect example of the government approach of wanting to be seen as doing something, while actually accomplishing nothing.
Aloha Tom K,
If you check the real estate statistics in Canada you will find that their federal government meddling in private enterprise has done absolutely nothing to make housing more affordable. Canada is still recognized globally for having a stratospheric out of control housing market “bubble”, except the “bubble” will not deflate, despite government “actions”. Pick up any quality financial publication and read about it for yourself.
Mahalo
Interesting selective exclusion in the bill. Are there any timeshare properties in Hawaii that are owned by Section 1-4 entities? I’m thinking this could create enormous lawsuits that will take forever to be resolved.
One of the testifiers would even prohibit US citizens from buying if they did not make Hawaii their place of residence.
Love all of your content – Beat of Hawaii is a great and insightful resource. Not to nitpick, but I believe the phrase is raises the “spectre” not “scepter”. This will never become law imho.
Hi Josh.
Thanks for your first comment. And it isn’t nitpicking. We appreciate it. Grammarly let us down today. Lol.
Aloha.
Foreign investors are not the reason why housing is expensive in Hawaii. Its because the supply of housing can’t meet the demand. The state and counties have a onerous entitlement process, which
makes it infeasible to develop new market rate housing. This
leaves only big developers with deep pockets building luxury homes and condos. As a result of this disparity, the middle class largely can’t afford to buy a home of their own. This proposed illegal legislation is being pursued only to appease the public. It won’t solve the underlying issues.
I don’t know much about this, could you elaborate please? What is the “onerous entitlement process”?
Can’t the government, using some of the billion dollar (I’m not exaggerating) budget they receive every year to subsidize developers to build market rate housing, which would be sold as such? This has been done in many other areas of the country. Is there something different about Hawaii that this isn’t an option?
There is overlapping permitting required to develop new housing . The state and the county have a onerous process of redistricting and rezoning land to allow new home construction. 49% of the land in Hawaii is in the conservation district, 45.8% is in agriculture district, .3 is rural, and 4.9% is urban. Then there is litany of other permits developers have to obtain, which takes years to obtain. Then you have environmental friendly laws that NIMBYs use to weaponize to stop new housing in its tracks.
That bill will never pass and even if it does it will get overturned in federal court. Why do you even bother with such nonsense?