Aloha All,

During this Memorial Day Weekend as we celebrate those who have served to protect our freedom and rights, many have become shocked to the reality of how fragile that freedom is. Maui is currently in a vulnerable situation due to our State Representatives passing a new law granting Counties the right to change zoning regulations, and in turn reducing property rights and putting our freedoms at risk. We all are aware of the nightmare that so many West Maui and Upcountry people have endured due to the fires on August 8^th, many losing their homes, their businesses, their employment and many losing their lives. It’s a horrible situation. This tragedy has accentuated Maui’s failure, like so many other areas in Hawaii as well as the Mainland, of their ability to provide for adequate housing. Maui’s government immediately turned on the short term rental owners and employees and started on the journey to strip away property rights from many short term rental owners, while ignoring the root causes of the issues which is the failure of government, one of those being too many regulations. Many times we look to the government to solve our problems while the government is the problem.

There is a huge shortage in housing but it’s not because of vacation rentals that were built before hotels, but because of poor planning of our government. The question is “Why punish the population who has worked hard to obtain their property instead of putting their energy into getting the properties built. Most vacation rentals would be very short on parking if they were converted to long term rentals. Vacation rental properties usually have one car parking while most families using long term rentals have multiple cars.

Clint recently interviewed Paul Brewbaker, Hawaii’s well-known economist. Paul explains the ramification of the situation Maui is facing should the new law pass. Following is a link to that interview. You will find it very enlightening. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/5FH15ptSZLxXMSyi/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Another source is Maui Vacation Rental Association which, along with others, is banning together with other associations to resolve these issues appropriately. Connect with them, attend their meetings in order for all of us to get a positive resolution: ­­This link will provide valuable information. https://mvra.net/news

To add insult to injury, the county just passed a whopping new tax hike where hotels are charged less than STR’s. Here’s the link to the new tax rates: https://www.mauinews.com/opinion/columns/2024/05/property-tax-hikes-wrong-way-to-rebuild-lahaina/ Keep in mind that while tax rate on less expensive properties may remain the same they will still pay more taxes due to the increase in assessed valuation by the county.

This Maui bill has not passed as yet and they will be having public comments at the Council Meeting in the near future. By the way, the other islands are also experiencing similar problems and we believe as things evolve, we will all need to work together. This is a very complicated situation and we are happy to answer questions to the best of our ability.

In the meantime, the real estate market seems to be faring well. The Maui News article recently states the following “Homebuyers on Maui closed on more single-family homes and condominiums in April, according to the latest resale figures from the Realtors Association of Maui (RAM). The median sales prices for both categories also saw notable increases as single-family homes rose by 16.9%, while condominiums climbed by 8.4%, compared to April 2023….The average sale price of a single family home on Maui saw a significant increase in April compared to last year, registering at $1,714,647 in April 2023 compared to $1,867,630 last month. That is good for an increase of 8.9% over the course of a year.” For the complete stats click https://www.mauirealestate.net/real_estate_stats.html

We are featuring some fabulous new listings:Launiupoko Legacy property. https://www.mauirealestate.net/mls-401396.html

Wailea Beach Villas condo/home. https://www.mauirealestate.net/mls-401641.html

Single level, 4 bed, view home in Maui Meadows. https://www.mauirealestate.net/mls-402110.html

Beach front condominium. https://www.mauirealestate.net/mls-402134.html

If you would like a copy of our newsletter to share let us know at                                                           dad@mauirealestate.net

Bob Hansen PB R(B)                    Clint Hansen BIC R(B)               Donna D. Hansen R(S) 

 808-283-945                                   808-280-2764                                808-280-1650

RB-17532                                              RB-21616                                              RS-49765

                                   MAUI LUXURY REAL ESTATE LLC

The Hansen Ohana ~ Maui’s Real Estate Family for over 35 years