|
June 2026 — What You Need to Know
|
Aloha, this is Lahaina Lee with the June 2026 edition of the Maui Real Estate Advisor.
June has been one of the most consequential months for Maui real estate and Lahaina recovery in a long time. Bill 88 passed. Lahaina is rebuilding — at a painfully slow pace. Infrastructure projects are getting underway. And even as what some are calling a big legislative win sinks in, new questions are already emerging about what comes next. There is still so much of what has been lost, and what has been taken away.
Here is where things stand as we close out the month.
Bill 88 Passes — Now Awaiting Mayor Bissen's Signature
The headline: the Maui County Council passed Bill 88 by a 7-2 vote on June 19, and the bill now awaits Mayor Richard Bissen's signature. As of this writing, no public announcement of a signature has been made, but Mayor Bissen is widely expected to sign it.
Bill 88 creates two new hotel zoning categories — H-3 and H-4 — designed specifically to provide a new legal pathway for the thousands of apartment-zoned condominium units currently affected by Bill 9 that have historically operated as vacation rentals.
It's important to be clear about what this bill does and doesn't do. Bill 88 does not automatically rezone any property. It creates the zoning categories. Each individual complex would still need to apply for rezoning through its own separate process — Planning Commission review, committee hearings, and Council readings. And remember: the planning commissions all voted against creating this zoning. Housing and Land Use Committee Chair Nohelani U'u-Hodgins reiterated this point directly after the vote: the bill establishes the districts, but separate rezoning actions are required for every property that seeks to use them.
The 7-2 margin is significant. Council members who supported the bill were clear about their reasoning: many Minatoya-listed properties already operate as hotels in every practical sense. Keeping them classified as apartment buildings creates regulatory mismatches, permitting friction, and legal exposure for the county — not to mention the property owners. As one Council member put it, trying to fit these properties into apartment zoning is like putting a square peg in a round hole.
Approximately 4,500 units across roughly 104 complexes are potentially eligible for consideration under H-3/H-4.
The Next Big Question: Implementation
With the Council vote behind us, the conversation has already shifted to what happens next — and the honest answer is that a lot remains to be determined.
Three things that do not yet exist:
- No H-3/H-4 application process has been released by the Planning Department
- No official eligibility list identifying which properties may apply has been published
- No timetable for accepting rezoning applications has been announced
For owners at Bill 9-affected complexes, the absence of the Planning Department's eligibility list and the absence of a process are now the most significant unresolved issues. Post-vote reporting has made clear that this list — which the Planning Department is required to maintain and publish — will be the gateway document for any property seeking to pursue H-3/H-4 rezoning.
The next major development to watch is not the Mayor's signature, though that matters. It's when and how the Planning Department releases implementation guidance, and which properties are included on the eligibility list when it arrives. That is the document that will answer the real question for thousands of condo owners: is my building on the path forward, or not?
Bill 9: Still in Effect
With all the attention on Bill 88, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Bill 9 remains fully in effect. No amendments. No repeal. No new litigation was filed in the final weeks of June. The phaseout of short-term rental use in apartment-zoned units is still the law.
Bill 88's passage is a major step forward — but it is the beginning of a new process, not the end of the old one. If you own in a Bill 9-affected complex, the practical advice hasn't changed: get good legal counsel, understand your specific building's situation, and don't for a minute think passage automatically resolves your situation. A pathway now exists. Whether your building can use it depends on what the Planning Department publishes next.
Lahaina Recovery: Momentum on the Ground
Three years after the August 2023 fire, Lahaina's recovery continues to move forward on the residential side — steadily, if not dramatically.
MauiRecovers.org Dashboard — June 2026
|
Lahaina Residential Rebuild — Status as of June 2026 |
|
|
Permits issued |
575 total residential building permits |
|
Homes completed |
220 completed and approved for occupancy |
|
Under construction |
310 homes actively being built |
|
In processing |
352 permits currently being reviewed |
|
Non-residential permits |
25 issued; 163 in process — no new commercial buildings open |
|
FEMA housing |
Households in temporary housing extended into 2027 |
The residential progress is real, and I don't want to minimize it. Those numbers have continued to tick upward through the final weeks of June. It is not a sudden surge — consistent progress is what long-term recovery looks like. And yet, the fire destroyed roughly 2,200 structures. More than 1,000 property owners haven't started, can't start, or may have already given up.
Programs supporting homeowners remain active and have capacity. The Single-Family Homeowner Reconstruction Program has 50 active applications and room for 250 more. HUD raised income limits for Maui County on June 1 — so if you or someone you know was told they didn't qualify before, it is worth checking again.
Commercial rebuilding is virtually nonexistent.
Our state and local leadership has shown no will and no real interest in cutting through the red tape of historic review, coastal regulations, infrastructure sequencing, and permitting layers that are completely blocking any commercial progress. The Lahaina Royal Complex Master Plan process has formally launched with community engagement — but commercial recovery is a multi-year effort at best, and nobody should pretend otherwise.
On the community side, Hot Kūpuna Nights returned to the Lahaina Civic Center this week, and planning is underway for the Lahaina Homecoming event scheduled for July 17–19 — a meaningful moment in the community's ongoing effort to reconnect with place and culture.
Infrastructure Moving Forward
Several significant infrastructure projects are now underway or imminent:
- The Lahaina Waterline Improvement Project begins construction in mid-July — replacing 20,000 feet of water main over two years, with added fire hydrant capacity
- The Lahaina Emergency Evacuation Route (2.5 miles) is in active construction planning
- Guardrail replacement along Honoapi'ilani Highway is underway, with mid-October completion expected
- Five traffic signals between Shaw Street and Hina Street will be replaced by end of 2026
- The Lahaina Harbor railing project is complete — blessing ceremony is July 1
- Playground groundbreaking at the War Memorial Recreation Center is set for August 12
Mayor Bissen also signed the FY2027 County Budget into law this month, which will shape recovery and infrastructure spending priorities in the year ahead.
Tourism: Stable, but Deeply Split
No new visitor statistics were released in the final days of June. The picture remains what it has been: Maui's tourism market is steady but uneven — and the gap between who is thriving and who is struggling is widening.
Visitors who do come are spending well. The resort areas of Ka'anapali and Wailea appear to be holding up — in some cases, thriving. Other areas are starving, and low rates don't seem to be drawing the visitors. It's a K-shaped tourism economy, and which side of that K your property sits on matters more than any headline number.
For vacation rental owners, performance increasingly comes down to location, property quality, management, and pricing — in that order.
For buyers evaluating investment potential, the tourism environment is one more variable to weigh carefully alongside the Bill 9 and Bill 88 landscape. Run your numbers conservatively. Use current occupancy data, not peak-year projections.
The Bottom Line
June 2026 delivered a welcome win in Bill 88's passage. But let's be clear about what that means: at its very best, this is just a pathway to getting back some of the legal rights that were already taken away. Lahaina's residential recovery is gaining real momentum. Infrastructure investment is accelerating.
The work ahead is significant. Mayor Bissen's signature is the next step on Bill 88. After that, the Planning Department's eligibility list and implementation guidance become the most important documents in Maui real estate – and they don't exist yet. That is the story to watch heading into July. And as for the tourism market – let's hope that picks up for the places that aren't on the upward angle of our K-shaped economy.
As always, we're here to help you navigate whatever comes next.
Mahalo,
Lee Potts | Aloha Group Maui
Lee@AlohaPotts.com | AlohaGroupMaui.com
Have questions about how Bill 9 or Bill 88 affects a specific property? Reach out directly — I answer every message.
From the greatest island on earth — this is Lahaina Lee saying Aloooooha.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we're hearing most from buyers, sellers, and investors right now.
What did Bill 88 actually do?
Bill 88 created two new hotel zoning categories — H-3 and H-4 — that give apartment-zoned condominium complexes historically operating as vacation rentals a potential path to legal rezoning. It passed the Maui County Council 7-2 on June 19 and is now awaiting Mayor Bissen's signature. What it does not do is automatically rezone any property. Every complex that wants to use the new categories still has to apply through a separate, full rezoning process.
What happens now that Bill 88 has passed?
The next steps are the Mayor's signature, followed by the Planning Department publishing an eligibility list identifying which properties may apply for H-3/H-4 rezoning. That list has not been released yet. No application process has been announced, and no timetable has been set. For condo owners, the eligibility list is the document that actually answers whether your building has a path forward.
Does Bill 88 cancel out Bill 9?
No. Bill 9 remains fully in effect. No amendments, no repeal. Bill 88 creates a potential pathway for some affected properties to seek rezoning — but that process is separate, requires County approval, and has not yet been defined. Bill 9's phaseout of short-term rental use in apartment-zoned units is still the law.
Which properties are eligible for H-3/H-4 rezoning?
Approximately 4,500 units across roughly 104 Minatoya-listed complexes are potentially in scope. But the Planning Department has not yet published an official eligibility list. Until that list exists, no individual owner or complex can definitively know whether they qualify to apply. This is the most important unresolved question in Maui real estate right now.
What is the current status of Lahaina's rebuild in 2026?
As of late June 2026, the MauiRecovers.org dashboard shows 575 residential permits issued, 220 homes completed, and 310 under construction. Residential progress is real and moving. Commercial rebuilding on Front Street is a different story — no new commercial buildings have opened, no commercial permits were filed in early 2026, and a realistic timeline for meaningful Front Street recovery is years away.
How is Maui tourism doing in 2026?
Stable but uneven. Ka'anapali and Wailea resort areas are performing well. Other areas — particularly those dependent on the Lahaina visitor economy — are struggling, and low rates aren't drawing visitors the way owners hoped. The visitor profile has shifted toward higher spenders, which helps revenue for premium properties but doesn't lift the whole market. Overall volume remains below 2019 levels.
About Lahaina Lee & The Maui Real Estate Advisor
Lahaina Lee is a licensed real estate broker on Maui, Hawaii, and the publisher of the Maui Real Estate Advisor — a monthly market report covering Maui condo and single-family home trends, luxury real estate, short-term rental regulations, the Lahaina rebuild, and Maui's broader economic picture.
Contact: Lee@AlohaPotts.com | AlohaGroupMaui.com
