We are scratching our heads on this one as we look back at passenger arrival data in Hawaii for the week ending April 8, 2020. Of those who disembarked here (by plane and not by outrigger canoe as pictured above), 393 were intended residents. It struck us as an odd time to be moving. Or maybe not.

A couple of interesting developments shed light on this. Then read on for another twist, and see why this might come to an end this week, at least here on Kauai.

The news today may have helped clarify what seemed like such strange behavior – to be relocating to Hawaii, now. Let’s face it, life will never be the same as it was before. Everything has been upended, including life in big cities, like New York. The charm is gone at the moment.

1. A renowned NY real estate agent has been helping his ultra high end customers escape the city and transplant themselves here in Hawaii. Michael Bolla, who has rich and famous clients, has been quietly moving some of them out of multi million dollar Manhattan homes and into rural Hawaii. One just rented a $20k/month home on Maui.

2. The real estate agent himself wasn’t far behind, and is said to now be getting his Hawaii real estate broker’s license. He said, “you are doing everything you can to help people figure out their lives…. Many of my clients are now in their 60’s and 70’s. They understand that they are not going back to life as usual any time soon.”

3. We do know that coming to Hawaii and using a vacation rental as a launching pad is not enough to be considered an intended resident. There could be another thing happening too. Those who have a second home or condo in Hawaii, perhaps otherwise used as a vacation rental when not occupied, are now coming to Hawaii with the idea of making it their new permanent home. Since they already own property in Hawaii, that would be easy to do.

Why you might want to think twice about moving into a vacation rental on Kauai.

Starting this Saturday, Kauai will largely put the kabosh on situations similar to the one depicted above. Effective April 11, Kauai vacation rentals are closed for the duration of the current emergency. That includes Airbnb and home stays too. Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said yesterday that they “must cease all operations.” There is one exception, however, and that allows those currently in a vacation rental to complete the stay they paid for. While Kauai started this policy, we may see it implemented soon on the other islands too.

If you had the financial resources to move to Hawaii, would you do that now or stay put where you are?

Beat of Hawaii photo at Kanaha Beach Park, Maui.