Maui’s initiative to cut vacation rentals by half places it among global destinations rethinking tourism’s impact. The move reflects a growing trend toward sustainable tourism practices that prioritize long-term community needs.
Maui’s initiative to cut vacation rentals by half places it among global destinations rethinking tourism’s impact. The move reflects a growing trend toward sustainable tourism practices that prioritize long-term community needs.
Jeff & Rob,
Finally. Thanks so much for reporting on this trend, because, as you know, I’ve tried to provide many real world examples of how this is not a Maui or Hawaii issue, it is global, and the deleterious effects of STRs on many communities has been widely documented. As a result there already has been much push-back – many jurisdictions have already banned or severely restricted STRs – most of which are much larger than the entire State of Hawaii.
In my view, Hawaii is so far behind in truly eliminating STRs from unwanted zoning that the state is already paying the price in massive out-migration of the workforce. This is already having huge consequences for the state and local businesses (no workforce, tax base reduced..
Bill, you failed to mention “speculator”. I can usually count on you to work it in 2 or 3 times, and in a much shorter comment. You are losing your touch. Do better.
I can see that speculators don’t like being called what they are.
And the irony is…in not one of those areas did the elimination or curtailment of short-term rentals make housing any more affordable.
I believe short-term rentals should be curtailed, but not for affordable housing reasons. The logical reason would be to achieve moderation. However, the market tends to take care of excesses of oversaturation, making it not sustainable to continue a given use. No need for government intervention, which in this case is doomed for failure.
My real objection to the latest bill is the attempted removal of property rights that the government explicitly promised and codified in 2018. Ain’t gonna happen, and all of this posturing is just a waste of taxpayer money as the islands are flooded with lawsuits.
In Palm Springs, a cap on short-term rentals in specific high-demand neighborhoods has all but frozen the market in those communities.
Sales are down. Homes languish on the market for months. And investors who bought up Palm Springs properties during the COVID-19 pandemic are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
This is happening globally. More recently, look across Florida, Austin TX, South Padre Island TX, elsewhere in CA, Bozeman MT, etc etc etc…
Yes, I read the same article. This has happened in other communities as well, and the dip is always temporary. Eventually, investors scoop up all of those properties at fire-sale prices, which causes the prices to rise again.
Also, there is a difference between those few neighborhoods in Palm Springs and here. The structures in Palm Springs were built very recently with the express intent of selling them as short-term rentals. People bought them sight-unseen for absurd prices. Here, condos that don’t allow short-term rentals don’t sell much below the ones that do. Some people actually put value on No short-term rentals, just as some people put value on those that do. Here, I would expect a dip, but I would expect it to be temporary.
We recently looked closely at the Palm Springs real estate market for a second home. Your argument is based on false information. Easy to look up on Redfin, Realtor.com, Zillow, etc. Current time on market is a normal 66 days, and little changed since interest rates went up. Average sale price has Steadily increased in the last 5 years from $400k to a little over $700k. High mortgage rates are having the primary effect on limiting housing price increases. The STR policy in Palm Springs is much fairer to property owners. If you have a licensed STR you can keep it. STR’s are capped at 20% of the properties. Owners regularly let their STR licenses expire and they become available for others. Facts….
Bill’s comment Re Palm Springs has been refuted at least five times in this and recent threads by various authors. I wonder if he will finally take note.
Bill do you get paid per post? If you are not a resident or Hawaii visitor perhaps you can find a cause that can benefit from your “fact” base for everywhere except Hawaii. We are looking for solutions or voicing the impact this will have on us that live here, own here or want to come here. It doesn’t sound like you are benefitting Hawaii with your repetitive efforts.
If people were paid per post you’d be the richest of them all. Sounds like you are a local realtor/property manager afraid that your clients speculative investments are going to tank.
I’ve lived here for decades. The fact that property speculators get so frustrated must mean that I am saying the right things.
Bill, methinks thou dost protest too much.
With apologies to another Bill for the adaptation.
Clever, Mike.👍🏼
Hawaii was a better place to live and visit before the exploitation process of short-term rentals. More is not always better. A happier atmosphere holds much more value than the money short-term rentals bring in.
Curious – what is an “exploitation process”, and how is it making you unhappy? Is it the overtourism aspect? If so, please know that any reduction of short-term rentals will be met by an equal expansion of hotel rooms.
Market forces, combined with humans’ natural instinct towards greed and the thrill of the chase, will prevail.
Exactly. Hawaii State and County governments worked with the real estate cabal to allow these mini-hotels into residential and ag zoning. Big mistake, now they have a highly depleted workforce and absurd housing costs.
Lol – I love the way you try to establish cause-and-effect between two conditions that have absolutely nothing to do with each other (e.g. mini-hotels = highly depleted workforce). Everyone can see through this, just so you know.
It’s amusing and entertaining watching you operate, though, so mahalo for that!👍🏼
A recent survey showed why people leave the islands. Very few people mentioned lack of housing. The main reasons were lack of job diversity and job growth.
Look at any rental website and you will see that there isn’t any lack of rental housing. There is only a lack of housing that a normal salary here can afford. Unfortunately that is the reality of remote islands with no industry.
What happier atmosphere? When people have no job as they depended on doing maintenance or house cleaning on STR for extra money to make ends meet. Read the book Hawaii Oahu Book 1. In 1968, they were already lamenting on the old Hawaii being gone, having been taken over by Hotel Conglomerates that have the get em in and get em out mentality in Waikiki. Even then the hotels were running the islands. Now you want to give them a monopoly of where one can stay in Hawaii.
The way I see it, Governor Green is making the mayors of the islands take the heat and legal costs of their legislation being fought in court.
He gave them the authority and the costs of implementing the ban of STR.
He steps back in the shadow of the hotel conglomerates as every Governor previously has and believes the costs will be returned by elevating the hotel occupancy rate.
Green has built nothing for the families who lost everything. He chooses to force STR owners to make their properties available to the victims of the fire. Where are the portable trailers offered by FEMA? He turned them down as they would be unsightly to the resorts owners.
Please tell me anything Governor Green has built since this tragedy occurred?
We can court more tourist dollars at the expense of affordable housing for the same people who serve the tourists and drive up the costs of social services . I personally don’t like pimping our islands.
I stared at your sentence, trying to understand it.
How do people who serve tourists drive up the cost of social services?
Starving with no jobs would definitely drive up social services.
We need to constantly keep in mind that we live in one of the most remote locations on the planet. We are darn lucky we have tourism “pimping” to help us not live in third-world poverty.
Absolutely spot on. I can’t thank you enough for standing up for us Pat!!!! Even though this absurdity will be overturned it is already causing damage and will cost us much more until it is corrected.
#1. The illegal operators of STRs must compliy, including paying a good portion of past illegal gains, or be closed by the county under the law.
#2. The counties must regulate compliance with the laws in place, something they either don’t care to do, or what I believe, they have no clue how to enforce , at least here in Hawaii.
#3. Hosted only STRs; except those gradfathed in, in excellent standings with taxes and fees paid and no neighborhood complaints.
#4. Taxes & fees STR’s collect should be made public, so to enlighten some folk the money STRs making for the various government entities.
**Finally. Get out of legal STR’s operators pockets!
The math in the article is incorrect, 280K * 5K is $1.4 billion
Maui’s total economy is $11.6 billion
That’s a 10% decline
Average income for everyone drops on average 10%
Everyone’s housing cost better drop more than 20% or you’re just at best breaking even on this deal
Back in 2009 during the Great Recession with high foreclosure rates Hawaii especially Maui loosened STR regulations to encourage investment from outside the state to stimulate tourism & get Hawaii out of recession. It worked. Now Hawaii especially Maui wants to drive out the investors who saved the economy at the time. I can’t wait for squatters to case former STR condo move into properties that will see little use by the owners. My guess the mayor will have the squatters back.
Someone please explain how this makes hosuing cheaper for the locals. The prices won’t fall drastically and the waitress can’t afford an 850k condo. So either this is a terrible idea or the government is betting in causing a massive housing price crash which will further tank revenue collection. Which is it?
My guess is the latter; that the government is betting on a massive housing price crash. In council meetings I have attended, I’ve witnessed their confidence that they can somehow deal with the property, GET and TAT tax shortfalls.
Pat..exactly. They are betting the whole process, and economy on crashing the real estate market.
What logic.
An example to ponder:
In Palm Springs, a cap on short-term rentals in specific high-demand neighborhoods has all but frozen the market in those communities.
Sales are down. Homes languish on the market for months. And investors who bought up Palm Springs properties during the COVID-19 pandemic are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
You are the cut-and-paste King!
Which hotel is paying you to spam these discussions? There’s no time for a normal job, as you are here full-time.
Says the speculator who’s constantly posting on here!
Did you say the same thing to Kim L about her posts?
Of course not, she has the same opinion as you!
Bill, Give the Palm Springs post a rest, will ya?
Oh, Jeez..ditto. And if Bill is ME20 on BOH, can he please just chill for about 1/2 year.
Lets clarify this for all:
The housing in question refers specifically to buildings zoned and intended for long-term occupancy. The recent legal changes aim to prioritize the well-being of Maui residents.
The practice of individuals renting out their residential properties for short-term stays to non-residents, while profiting personally and residing elsewhere, is being addressed. This adjustment is limited to residential areas and does not encompass every condominium or home on Maui.
Maui residents firmly believe that prioritizing the needs of local residents is the right course of action. Before out-of-state investors can profit from investments that do not directly benefit the local community.
It is common sense.
First off, you are not speaking for all of the Maui people. Many of us disagree. Many complexes that were allowed to be built in these zones were purpose built for short term and are inadequate for long term. The loss of revenue and taxes does indeed affect businesses and locals jobs directly. Sad that simple math and researching the facts seems hard for you to grasp. It would have cost less to build more affordable subsidized housing than to negatively affect the economy. Locals won’t be able to qualify or afford 1/2 the properties taken.
Good day all~ As a STVR owner (2 years) I have 2 observations.
1. Supply v Demand. A problem in many places around the globe, dealt with by various schemes with various results. You can either up the supply (build more afforable housing) or you can cut the demand, which seems to be the path Hawaii is choosing. Albeit, a shotgun political approach to a devasting one off event. Seems there is no ‘plan’ and no analysis on the impact.
2. Sledgehammer when a nail and hammer is needed. Our intention was to buy our condo, rent it out until we were ready to move and retire as residents. But we are potentially lumped in with the multi-unit offshore owners and the wrath that comes along with scapegoating. Once again, reactive vs proactive.
The Hawaii housing issue cannot be solved by effectively delisting 7,000 STR units because only 34% of non resident owners rent out their Hawaii vacation property (see HTA 2019 report on vacation rentals). The problem in Hawaii is that political leaders do not have a vision for the future of the islands, do not have alternative industry alternatives to tourism, lack the organization to implement compliance on illegal STR and hence grasp at short term politically motivated solutions that will be watered down in the end.
This is going to be a Huge tax hit. Hawaii is digging their own grave at the behest of the hotel/motel lobby which of course is not mentioned here. It takes years to build anything in Hawaii and the fees there are ridiculous driving up prices…if you ever get a permit. Re-read the comments at the top of the article. Who’s going to make up this money. And tourism will drop by a lot! Sorry, STVR’s are what people want and with Hawaii prices, partially due to accommodation taxes, already way higher than other places people will just quit coming….. But honestly I think that’s what Hawaii wants, they smelled it during COVID….but how will they live?? How will they eat? There’s no more “free” federal government money. Adios!
Regarding “smelled after covid” we saw and felt it in our latest trip to Kauai in 2023. Residents told us it was nice to have the beaches and roads to themselves during the covid shutdown. They got a taste of something they liked and won’t forget it. Resentment quickly set in after covid.
I wonder if they also told you who was paying their bills during that lovely period of having roads and beaches to themselves?
Good question! Who did?
Awesome question. Many of us still had the same financial responsibilities. We did get assistance but it was not enough with our cost of living.
“The growth of vacation rentals has led to what critics and commenters here describe as economic exploitation, where speculators buy properties for vacation rentals, squeezing out residents.”
So commenter Bill (aka ME20 on Civil Beat) is now writing for you guys?
Hi David.
You’re funny. No.
Aloha.
I sense that BOH tends towards support of short-term rental legislation of this type. I’m sure their hearts are in the right place.
I do find it curious that despite that bias, this publication seems to draw commenters of the opposite persuasion.
Hi Pat.
We try to remain agnostic as much as is possible. Thanks again for over 500 comments Much appreciated!
Aloha.
If the Long Term Community Need is to be unemployed, this will deliver the goods.
Your article notes New York regulations
Hawaii should offer a chance to primary local resident homeowners who rent out part of their house that they occupy in residential and ag zones while the owner is in residence, and require STRs in “Vacation Rental Zones” to be operated only by Hawaii residents, with Hawaii ID and a Hawaii income tax return.
Local residents would experience lower housing costs and an opportunity to pick up STRs in Vacation Zones offered for sale at more affordable prices, and the STRs being allowable there due to HI residency.
A win-win for residents and to heck with Mufi and his hotel buddies.
Hi Bruce,
Why would you think the short term rentals in Vacation zones would be offered at a more ‘affordable’ price? Do you mean at a discount? Why would they be discounted?
Those who purchased the strs, if forced to sell, would not sell their property at a discount. They will want to get the money out of it that they put into it at the very least.
Properties which have a beachfront water view are premium properties and are never ‘affordable’.
These properties will never be “affordable housing. We’ll always have buyers. Condos will sit empty until the bans are overturned. We didn’t have enough inventory to sell for the buyers looking before.
Bruce….do you own on Maui? You ready to hand over your house to a local to manage your house? Tell you who can stay in your house? How many guests you can have over? How often you can have guests? Ohh I forgot to Add that you must pay them whenever they thought you should have the lawn done? Or charge you to change qa light bulb? How easy the solution is if its not your house you are talking about….I manager our unit and its because a manager does not care who is in your house or about our property but only their 50% split of the cost of nightly rate…who is the robber here? not me…I pay all mytaxes and our guests Support the economy. And I don’t need someone to tell me how to run my business. Try that with McDonalds!
You looked at what HOA’s are at some of those complex’s? $2000+ a month
The average rent in those would be 10K plus a month.
In my view there should be no mini-hotels in residential or ag zoning, anywhere in the State of Hawaii. These zones are not established or planned for tourists coming and going. They also completely destabilize the housing for residents and the workforce at all levels.
Speculators are welcome to speculate away in resort zoning – go for it. That is what it is meant for……..tourists, profiteering, losses….speculation.
What I find interesting both here and in other places is the comments people are making about assumptions on what’s going to happen. There are very little in the way of actual plans that I’ve seen so far. People are assuming, for example, that “all” STVRs are going to be banned on Maui, even though BOH and others have showen that the current plan is to get rid of about 7K out of 16K+ legal units. As the governor said, laws still need to be passed. In addition, I think that some of the issues with STVRs can be handled by enforcing or changing existing zoning laws. In either case, I think that some of the Pearl Clutching going on about not ever traveling to Hawaii again is, at best, premature.
Wow… Finally, a voice of reason. The sky isn’t falling and it isn’t the end of our Visitor Industry on Maui. Yes, some people will be priced out of Maui as a regular vacation destination, but there will still be options of Vacation Rentals and Hotels & Resorts.
Please continue to visit Maui… We want you to visit and we need you to visit. Mahalo!
So you are in favor of having people’s personal property rights in what how they use their property taken away by the state without due process? How very socialistic of you.
Caught this.
Typical emotion => envy politics.
Will have a major impact.
Forcing tourists into $600 a night hotel rooms instead of $230 a night small op vacation rental.
Pull 10,000 units out across Hawaii.
3,000 cleaing jobs.
1500 from management to maintenance.
Secondary.
Increase of weekly accomodation from.$ 1600.00. a week to $4200.00
Of course, hotels will drop rates, but damage will be done.
Visitor numbers will drop 30 to 40%.
With this, 80 to 90,000 jobs statewide.
Out of about 640,000.
Current unemployment of 3.1% becomes between 14 and 17%.
The much larger issue that will directly effect the speculation all across the housing market is job loss and a recession. Most all STRs have not faced a job loss recession.
If you know what is happening with the economy right now, and you can see the slowing in tourism, it is not just a Hawaii problem, it’s nationwide, ….global.
This will be a far greater change to STRs than government regulation. Losses to investments, bankruptcy……..failed speculation. I can provide many instances where this is already happening.
Bill, you’ve talked about STRs never being through a recession on multiple websites now.
Where could you have possibly gotten that idea? Almost all legal STRs have been around since the 1960s, and have been through multiple recessions, the most recent being the 2009-2012 recession.
Why do you insist on spreading incorrect info? What is your agenda?
Bill, you continue to compare Hawaii to other locations even after the differences have been pointed out. It would be different if we had other commerce to fall back on like other areas. You say that most that oppose this are speculators, mainlanders or parties that will lose money from this happening. We’ll all lose money & many of us don’t own an STR but are worried how we will survive this. This is to keep locals from leaving. Yet, many of us are contemplating leaving even more. This will benefit only the hotels & politicians. The small business that are left will fail first since they don’t cater to the rich. Hawaii is unique in dependency.
This seems super simple… you can’t run a business in a residential zone.
So by your logic you can’t have a home based business either. Oh wait. You want exceptions…
Richard:
I fail to understand how changing the minimum rental period from 1 month (as is currently perfectly legal on Oahu) to either 3 or 6 months, makes the landlord’s new endeavor suddenly ‘not a business’. Aren’t all rentals a business? Would you advocate just eliminating the ‘:business’ of renting?
If you think that way then even long term rentals are illegal.
Exactly!!
All of this speculation that was allowed in Residential and Ag zoning was a huge mistake!
For example, what if I wanted to set up mini-restaurants in residential zoning? It’s my property right! Or mini-used car dealerships all over residential zones? Property rights? Or how about mini-amusement parks on properties everywhere!
Wait, what?
Dear Bill
As the City and County lawsuit in Honolulu showed, zoning can control the use of property that is marked as “residential”. The suit (which the city lost) found that month to month rentals are residential.
Trying to claim that people who are renting their homes month to month are running an illegal business like a “mini-restaurant” or car lot aren’t being honest.
Try hard to understand this argument: zoning laws can and should control the use of property. A resident that stays for 1 month is (for the purposes of zoning) identical to one that stays for 3 or 6 months. Get over it.
Part of what was changed and passed in SB2919, though, is that they added a clause that explicitly states that short-term rentals will no longer be considered residential use. The House/Senate slipped that in at the last minute.
I’m sure some lawsuits will be filed on this at the state level.
PatG,
Uh, yeah. The state ‘cleverly’ rewrote one of the legs of the suit. But they’ll have to deal with one other looming problem: the federal ‘takings’ issue.
Many of us that bought long ago when it was explicitly legal to rent month to month and had a reasonable expectation that we’d be able to do that going forward won’t be happy about the counties simply putting up another ordinance based on the state simply changing the rules.
See you in court.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the proliferation of short term rentals is a sickness. That sickness is being realized world wide. People need to find other things to invest in and quit gaming local populations. This article is excellent and thank you for printing it.
There is a big difference between controlling the over-tourism vs banning rentals altogether without thinking and understanding what the impact on the local economy will be. It’s been shown over and over again that many Hawai’i politicians have poor judgement and poor planing and managerial skills. Just look at the O’ahu rail.
Well said. Mahalo Keoki!
Holy Moly thank you for spewing the truth on here!!
Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Paris STR units were originally part of the local housing market. That can’t be said for most–maybe all–the STR units on Maui. Without visitors wanting and paying for second homes or vacation rentals, these units would not have been built. The housing is there because of visitors. Affordable housing is an issue throughout the world–not just in Maui because of a fire that destroyed 2000 units. The politicians and people of Maui haven’t done enough to ensure affordable housing exists for locals. Obviously having units mostly occupied by locals suddenly disappear is a crisis–but one that needs a measured temporary solution. It’s not helping that those displaced in West Maui are refusing FEMA in south maui.
To me I was saddened at the news of Hawaii, possibly, converting original apartments from str(timeshares & other forms) back to apartments, in the assigned “Apartment Districts”. I understand the need for housing, & it’s very sad so many lost their family homes last August. All I know is next February may be our last visit to the islands. We save for two years for our vacation and if our timeshare, originally a small apartment complex on the water, is converted we will not be back because the cost of hotels have risen extremely high since covid making it impossible. I hope Maui can heal, and I hope converting str to make “temporary” homes for those without works as planned, but more than likely not. Aloha.