Rental market appears to remain tight

HILO — Hawaii Island’s booming year in real estate sales has made the local rental market more of a squeeze.

“This is a tight time of year,” said Nancy Cabral, owner of Coldwell Banker Day-Lum Properties.

Islandwide, exact numbers for rentals are difficult to come by as they are not tracked through a multiple listing service as homes for sale are.

Day-Lum manages about 650 residential units or homes. Cabral said that of those 650, just four are empty right now.

She compared the numbers to similar occupancy rates she saw in 2005. In January of that year, she said, Day-Lum had no vacancies at all.

Winter months tend to bring the tightest rental markets, particularly in West Hawaii, said Frank Goodale, president and principal broker for Clark Realty Ltd. That’s because tourism numbers are up during these months, drawing more seasonal employees.

“People are coming in looking for work and housing,” Goodale said. “Renters like to stick around the employment centers.”

Early winter also is when many property managers return to spend time in their own rentals, Cabral said.

“It’s snowbird season — January, February, March,” she said. “In some of my properties, particularly oceanfront ones, the owner comes to stay for two or three months.”

The greatest number of vacancies occurs in June, she said.

“It does change month to month,” Goodale said.

Rental rates also have started to increase in some areas of the island. Goodale said in parts of North Kona, where housing is the tightest, rates are up between 8 and 10 percent.

As is the case for home sales, East Hawaii is less expensive for rentals, Cabral said. In East Hawaii, Day-Lum’s rent for apartments is between $600 and $700, with average rent for a house at $1,200.

“That same house, if it were anywhere else in the state, or Waimea, would be $3,000 a month,” she said. “Honolulu, Maui, Kauai — the rents are out of this world.”

Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.