Maui County, again, leads state in vacation rental supply in September

Maui County continued to have the largest vacation rental supply in the state in September — 263,900 available unit nights, compared with 230,500 on Oʻahu, 214,600 on Hawaiʻi Island and 136,600 on Kauaʻi, according to a monthly vacation rental performance report by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

Maui County’s supply of available unit nights in September was up 77.9% from the same month last year (a month after the Maui wildfires), but 15.6% less than in September 2019.

Maui demand was 120,400 unit nights (+68.0% vs. 2023, -46.7% vs. 2019), resulting in 45.6 percent occupancy (-2.7 percentage points vs. 2023, -26.6 percentage points vs. 2019). The average daily room rate was $352 (+32.4% vs. 2023, +54.7% vs. 2019).

For September 2024, Maui County hotels reported average daily room rate of $453 and occupancy of 52.6%.

Statewide in September, the total monthly supply of vacation rentals was 845,600 unit nights (+19.5% vs. 2023, -7.4% vs. 2019) and monthly demand was 381,100 unit nights (+2.1% vs. 2023, -38.8% vs. 2019). This combination resulted in an average monthly unit occupancy of 45.1% (-7.7 percentage points vs. 2023, -23.1 percentage points vs. 2019) for September. Occupancy for Hawai‘i’s hotels was 68.9% in September 2024.

The average daily room rate for vacation rentals statewide in September was $301 (+15.8% vs. 2023, +55.5% vs. 2019). By comparison, the average rate for hotels was $316 in September 2024.

State officials said it’s important to note that unlike hotels, units in vacation rentals are not necessarily available year-round or each day of the month and often accommodate a larger number of guests than traditional hotel rooms.

The data in Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism’s Hawai‘i Vacation Rental Performance Report specifically excludes units reported in the department’s Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report and Hawai‘i Timeshare Quarterly Survey Report.

A vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, condominium unit, private room in a private home, or shared room/space in a private home. The report does not determine or differentiate between units that are permitted or unpermitted. The legality of any given vacation rental unit is determined on a county basis.