Rise in vacation rentals could be stressing HI housing stock

Dive Brief:

An increase in the number of owners renting their homes to vacationers could be contributing to a shortage of residential housing in Hawaii, according to the Pacific Business News, citing a report by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
From 2011 to 2014, the volume of vacant and unavailable housing stock rose 11.8% while the total amount of available housing stock grew by less than 1%.
Meanwhile, the number of vacation rental units on the market has more than quadrupled to 10,768 in 2015 from 2,438 in 2005.

Dive Insight:

The report comes amid growing concern as to the impact of home-sharing services like Airbnb on residential housing as potentially available stock is removed from the market.

This has led cities like Washington, DC, which is facing its own shortage of affordable homes, to consider more stringent rental terms for home-sharing services. In October, New York City unveiled measures that seek to better regulate short-term rentals issued via home-sharing websites like Airbnb.

In response to the growing pressure, Airbnb came up with a list of suggestions for municipal governments seeking to regulate unlicensed, short-term rentals for the voluntary collection and remitting of taxes from hosts.

The HTA report comes as Hawaii sees demand for housing spur investment in mixed-use, high-rise schemes oriented around transit, though these properties typically serve the upper tiers of the market.

In October, the Honolulu City Council approved a $700 million mixed-use high-rise, Manaolana Place, which is set to be the state’s first TOD and is slated for completion in 2020. The 36-story tower will include more than 100 high-end condominiums and a luxury hotel as well as pedestrian access to the Hawaii Convention Center and a planned light rail station.

Still, the high cost of building in the island state and waning demand in the luxury segment has pushed back development plans for a similar residential project — a 32-story, 246-unit tower also in Honolulu. Other projects in the city reporting cost overages include the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s Honolulu Rail Transit Project, which is at least $3 billion over budget.

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