As an 18 year Hawaii resident, the article misses a lot of the subtleties of vacation rental ownership. Many local people own vacation rentals and make their living renting to tourists, as I do. In Hawaii, the tourists are always a scapegoat when the real problem is government overregulation and incompetence.
Why do we not have enough houses? Here in Maui County, it's because the County Council shoots down almost every affordable housing proposal. It can take 20 years to develop with all the red tape. If you do not build homes to keep up with population growth, it makes the existing houses unaffordable by restricting supply and stoking demand. Basic economics, folks.
Tourism is the lifeblood of our economy, and our supposed leaders never recognize this and continually bite the hand that feeds us.
In this morning's paper, a private contractor offered to donate 20 acres to Maui County for a landfill for a percentage of tipping fees. Nope. The County is proceeding with eminent domain, which will doubtless cost taxpayers more, so they can fail to operate the landfill efficiently. These are the kinds of idiots running the show. So frustrating!
But yeah, it's the tourists and malahini that are the problem [eye roll]