Maui’s mayor wants to ban Airbnbs to make housing more affordable for locals. Researchers say it could cause an economic shock

Honolulu (AP) – Economists at the University of Hawaii said in a report published on Monday that an unprecedented proposal from Mayor’s mayor to gradually get rid of vacation rental would reduce a severe housing shortage due to the 2023 forest fires, but it will also reduce the economy.

Mayor Richard Bessen presented the idea of ​​politics last year to strengthen the long -term Maoi supplies after the fires eliminated more than 3,000 housing units in The Hague.

Tri Gordner, a study author and researcher at the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii, said there are always bodies related to decisions of this kind.

A press conference said: “We find that policy will increase the ability to bear the costs of housing to some extent at the cost of jobs, income and tax revenues.” Visitors spending it will decrease sharply, according to the report.

Pesen said the report was a first value step in understanding the potential economic impact of his suggestion. But he said that economic models do not reflect the living experiences of the crowded population in multi -generation homes, transport long distances and leave Mao because they cannot afford the costs of housing.

“Most importantly, they fail to recognize the cultural loss that we face when our people are forced to leave – when generations of knowledge, traditions and Muh are displaced from the societies that formed them,” Pesen said in a statement.

Alice Lee, Chairman of the Council, said in a text message, that the housing committee in the Moy County and Using Council may be able to take a bill that includes the mayor’s proposal in about 60 days, depending on the budget review schedule and trading schedule.

She said that her anxiety is that the study does not deal with legal effects and costs related to politics.

He told me: “I understand that many rental owners (in the short term) will choose to keep their units and not to sell their units or rent them and use them when visiting Mao.” “The council would like to create a just and fair solution that works for all parties.”

About a third of Mayo visitors use holiday rents. It tends to a lower cost of hotels and is easy to seize on web sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. I have many spaces and kitchens, so people can work remotely and families can prepare their food.

They have also become a source of tension on Maui, especially after the lashina – the bloodiest in the United States for more than a century – a lot of housing.

The report said that the mayor’s proposal was unique in size because renting the concerned holidays represented 21 % of the housing supplies in Maui Province. In contrast, Los Angeles vacation regulations were affected by 0.9 % of local housing and were affected in Barcelona by 2.6 %.

This policy will add up to 6127 holiday rental units to the long -term housing shares in Maui, which increases the offer by 13 %.

Since about 600 new housing units were built in the province every year, this will be an equivalent to the development of the new housing for the contract. The price of the apartment will decrease 20-40 %, and the study is estimated.

Most of the affected owners will not be the residents of Maui because 85 % of owners of holiday rental in the Maui apartment are from outside the country-especially the state of California and Washington-as well as Canada.

Another benefit is that converting units into long -term housing will not require a boycott to develop additional water sources, which are rare on Maui.

At the same time, the study expected that policy would eliminate a quarter of the residence in the Maui Province and reduce visitors’ spending by 15 %. About 1900 jobs or 3 % of salary statements will disappear.

GDP will reduce 4 %, and property taxes may decrease by up to $ 60 million annually.

The report said that the boycott can reach some desired residential reinforcements with less economic interruption if it has increased the tax rental, empty houses tax, adopting the division of areas and allowing reform.

Determining the number of licenses for vacation and public auction will be another approach.

Stephen Bond Smith, assistant professor at the university and co -author, said he was not aware of a society that did this with holiday rents, but it is a common practice for taxi medals and used to manage fish fisheries.

The report said that the auction licenses would pay less profitable units than the holiday rental market because the cost will not justify the expenses.

The university conducted the study at the request of the Hawaiian Community Foundation, a non -profit organization.

This story was originally shown on Fortune.com

2025-04-01 19:22:00