About 50% of Molokai and Lanai residents who plan to move in the next five years said they want to relocate off-island, according to a recent survey. By contrast, most of the potential movers on Maui say they want to stay within their communities when looking for a new home.
Those are the results of a survey of 1,150 random Maui County households conducted in 2019 by SMS Research & Marketing Services Inc. of Honolulu. The survey was part of SMS’ larger Hawaii Housing Planning Study, which the company has conducted for the state Department of Business and Economic Development every three to five years since 1992.
The County Council’s Affordable Housing Committee will hear a presentation on the study at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Council Chamber.
One question in the survey asks, “How likely are you to move in the next five years?”
Approximately 38% of the respondents in eight districts on three Maui County islands said they indeed plan to move in the next few years. On Oahu, 43.5% of the respondents indicated they plan to move, while on Hawaii island and Kauai it was 37% and 28%, respectively.
But while many potential movers on Molokai and Lanai want to relocate off-island, fewer folks from those islands overall are planning to move. Fewer than 28% of those surveyed on Molokai and Lanai said they want to relocate within five years, while nearly 50% of folks in Kihei-Makena and West Maui districts indicated a desire to move.
While folks in most Maui island districts said they want to stay within their communities, only 31% in the Paia-Haiku district said they plan to look for a home within the immediate area, the smallest percentage of any district.
Donna Ting, broker-in-charge of Tri-Isle Realty & Development Co. in Wailuku, said that probably has to do with the tight housing market in the rural Paia-Haiku area.
“The housing market sucks,” she said. “It hasn’t been affordable in 20 years.”
And which Maui County region is where the most potential movers hope to stay?
That would be West Maui, where 71% of those surveyed said they want to move somewhere within the immediate area, followed by Kihei-Makena (59%), Wailuku-Kahului (56%) and Hana (56%).
Ting said the West Maui area is in demand as a place to live because it’s a center of commerce and tourism, and there are plenty of jobs. Thousands of residents commute to West Maui from other parts of the island.
Over on tiny Lanai, only 8% of the potential movers said they expect to stay on the island, according to the survey.
Thalia Salazar, a Lanai Community Health Center ultrasound technician who lives in Lanai City, said that’s not surprising because there’s a severe shortage of housing and lots of demand.
Her partner, she said, rents two houses on Lanai, and he gets at least one phone call a week from people looking for a place to live.
Island owner Larry Ellison’s Pulama Lanai management company is quick to buy up houses when they become available so it can rent them to employees and construction workers coming to the island for work, Salazar said.
“It’s tough here. There are two or three families who squeeze into the same house and make it work,” she said. “There’s little opportunity for the younger generation to buy houses here.”
Lanai is home to approximately 3,100 residents, one school, one hospital and no traffic lights.
“Lanai is one of the best-kept secrets,” Salazar said.
According to SMS, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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ON THE MOVE
38% of Maui County households plan to move in coming years.
20,729 total households plan to move.
20% of moving household plan to relocate out of state.
49% of households in Kihei-Makena and Lahaina plan to move.
38% of households in Makawao-Pukalani-Kula plan to move.
36% of households in Wailuku-Kahului plan to move.
32% of households in Hana and Paia-Haiku plan to move.
28% of households on Lanai and Molokai plan to move.
Source: 2019 Hawaii Housing Planning Study
