Hawaii is paradise to vacationers, but for people who live there full-time, it can be hellishly expensive.
Costs have risen so high that more Native Hawaiians now live on the U.S. mainland than in their home state, according to census data. And a separate report found that 1 in 3 families remaining in Hawaii are considering moving out of state.
The baseline cost of living is tough in the Aloha State, but it’s particularly brutal on the island of Maui, where a horrific 2023 fire consumed much of the principal town of Lahaina, decimating the local housing inventory. The fires were so devastating to the housing supply, in fact, that many residents had to move into the hotels that usually cater to honeymooners and other vacationers.
It’s in that context that the mayor of Maui just signed Bill 9, a long-brewing measure to convert thousands of short-term vacation rental properties into full-time rentals for locals.
The passage of the law will dramatically reduce the number of vacation rentals that are legally available to visitors.
Of the roughly 16,000 “transient vacation rentals” currently licensed by Maui County, about 6,200 units will have their licenses revoked by Bill 9, barring challengers and rezoning requests.
“Today, transient vacation rentals make up 21% of Maui County’s overall housing stock—more than any other county in Hawaiʻi,” said Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen in a statement. “Ninety-four percent of the units affected are owned by people who don’t live in Maui County, and most don’t even live in Hawaiʻi. … Rebalancing our housing market means we must return apartment-zoned housing to local families and residents—and that principle has guided our approach to Bill 9 from the very beginning.”
Experts have said the measure will increase the housing supply on Maui by 13%, something that would have taken a decade to accomplish through other means.
The vacation rentals affected by Maui’s Bill 9
“Bill 9 applies to vacation rentals operating in apartment-zoned areas. These are not hotels and not resort-zoned condos built specifically for visitors,” explains news site Beat of Hawaii. “Around 60% of the affected units are in South Maui, with 36% in West Maui. These are areas many repeat visitors favor, especially for longer trips and family travel.”
Bill 9 requires short-term rental units in areas specifically intended for residential use to be phased out by Jan. 1, 2029, in West Maui and by Jan. 1, 2031, in the rest of the county, including South Maui.
People booking vacation rentals in Maui over the next few years will find rental options gradually decreasing.
The reduction of inventory for vacationers is also likely to drive up nightly prices at the surviving rentals.
Maui County has compiled a full list of the properties affected by the new phaseout order, including the addresses, development name, and the year of construction.
As privately owned units are phased out of Maui’s vacation market, more tourists will be forced to stay in rental units that operate as part of resorts, which are exempt from the measure.
Some vacation rental owners are expected to convert their properties to long-term leases for locals.
But many more offshore owners could decide to sell. During the debate process leading up to the measure’s passage, opponents warned that Blackstone, which just bought out a company that already owns massive swaths of Maui, could use the change to snap up billions more in residential real estate and lease the homes back to locals at inflated rates.
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Comprehensive and fully updated, Frommer’s Hawai’i covers all the major Hawaiian Islands, and takes you from world-famous beaches to secluded rain-forests to blazing hot restaurants—and everywhere in between. Frommer’s authors are expert, seasoned journalists, like Natalie Schack and Catherine Toth …
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Frommer’s Hawaii 2026
Comprehensive and fully updated, Frommer’s Hawai’i covers all the major Hawaiian Islands, and takes you from world-famous beaches to secluded rain-forests to blazing hot restaurants—and everywhere in between. Frommer’s authors are expert, seasoned journalists, like Natalie Schack and Catherine Toth …
