Who owns the houses and condos in Hawai'i?

[Miulang]

It's not just a feeling that lots of Mainland residents are buying up real estate in Hawai'i...according to this story in the Maui News, it can now be documented. Maybe that'll give some politicians the bright idea that any "affordable" housing has to be limited to people who intend to live in Hawai'i full time. (BTW: 20% of all condos and single-family homes on Maui are owned by Mainland residents, 21% on Kauai, 8% on the Big Island and 4% on Oahu). No wonder real estate prices are going through the roof on Maui and Kauai.

Miulang

[waioli kai]

"Foreign Profit Corporation"s

Miulang: "It's not just a feeling that lots of Mainland residents are buying up real estate in Hawai'i...according to this story in the Maui News ... 20% of all condos and single-family homes on Maui are owned by Mainland residents, 21% on Kauai, 8% on the Big Island and 4% on Oahu). No wonder real estate prices are going through the roof on Maui and Kauai. "

That SMS Consulting's survey which "examined property tax records for all the counties to determine how many units had owners with Mainland addresses" was confined to countys' property tax records which indicated owners/agents with mainland addresses does not reflect the true percentage of non-Hawaii resident ownership of dwellings in Hawaii.

At HI's Dept of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Business Registration Division those not of Hawaii residence who conduct business in Hawaii register themselves as a "Foreign Profit Corporation", where even multimillion dollar entities pay only a $25 filing fee to file documents listing only the principal office address (whatever the 'foreign corporation' writes as its Hawaii address suffices) together with the street address of the registered office in Hawaii and the name of the registered agent at that address, such as:
The Corporation Company, Inc.
1000 Bishop St.
Honolulu, HI 96813

Even when one knows full well that a property is directly owned by a non-Hawaii resident(s), it can be an exercise in futility to find from HI State or county records a contact number (either phone ar address) on the U.S. mainland or in a foreign country that connects a Hawaii resident to the real owner(s) of properties in Hawaii, whether those properties surround one, are next door and/or are down the street from one's own residence. Property tax records can sometimes help not at all in finding out who owns what; at best, such records are sometimes misleading. In the case of the SMS Consulting survey as reported "misleading" may be a generous assessment. Some islands in Hawaii have "visitor counts" which rival the island's population count, and, the vast majority of those visitors do not stay in Hawaii resident-owned dwellings.