In September 2021, Maui hotels averaged a daily rate of $488, a remarkable 54% increase as compared to the same month in pre-pandemic 2019. As the disruptions caused by the pandemic ease, travel demand picks up, and hotel room prices climb, short-term vacation rentals may experience a similar bump in rates, giving owners an opportunity to enjoy greater profits on their investment.

Thanks to national, state, and island-wide trends, owners of long-term rental properties on Maui might also find the market supporting raises in rents. A recent report from Apartment List noted that the national median rent has surged 16.4% since January 2021. And according to The Maui News, the REALTORS®️ Association of Maui “in its August report said that the ‘booming’ housing market on a national scale has impacted the rental market, which is seeing demand for apartment and single-family home rentals ‘skyrocket’ as potential buyers are renting due to the low supply and high sales prices.”

Nationwide, the pandemic created a cohort of potential buyers who (now stuck at home much of the time) realized they needed more space - or had newfound freedom to move as a result of their work becoming remote. Stimulus checks in hand, and having been able to pay down debt and add to their savings, they entered the housing market.

Thanks to work interruptions, labor shortages, rising material costs, and supply chain issues throughout the pandemic, though, many builders have been unable to maintain even a typical pace of production, much less ramp it up to keep up with higher demand for construction. Enter the housing shortage and soaring home values. As also reported by The Maui News, the median sales price for a single-family home in September 2021 represented a 27.3% increase from the same month in 2020.

With homes in short supply and buyers in bidding wars for the limited number of properties that are available, many would-be buyers have found themselves pushed back into the rental field. Even those who weren’t considering a purchase may be looking for a larger home base or a new location for remote work, creating an even more crowded rental market. And on top of everything else, many millennials have found themselves seeking the privacy of a space to call their own, after sharing living quarters with parents or roommates throughout the pandemic.

So what’s the net effect of all these trends for renters? If you’ve been kicking around the idea of buying, there may be no time like the present, before home prices and rents get any higher.