First, the good news: Hawaiian lawmakers in the state house and senate have deferred consideration of two bills that would have distinguished between resident and non-resident property owners renting apartments in the state. Non-resident owners would have been required to employ third-party management, at a cost of 25% to 45% under existing options.
But if the initial bills are as good as dead (in their current form), two other bills have sparked some correspondence to this columnist.
John Skenderian, broker-owner at Prudential Maui Realtors in Lahaina, Hawaii, said House Bill 1706 will require non-resident owners renting their units to provide contact information for an on-island agent to the resident manager or building's owner's association. The agent will require a licence if acting for more than one owner.
Skenderian said a second bill, House Bill 2078, would require operators of rental-by-owner units to list their tax ID and local agent's information in all advertising, including online ads.
Skenderian supports the bills, which aims to tighten regulations regarding licensing for real estate professionals and raise standards for rentals generally.
Burnaby real estate agent Terry Gardiner, who highlighted objections to the first two bills last month, doesn't object to measures that ensure existing regulations are followed, but neither he nor other owners want to see the rental-by-owner market hobbled.
Gardiner, who is licensed by the state as a business and owns one suite on Maui, opted for self-management. Rentals are arranged through Vacation Rental by Owner, a service operated by Texas-based HomeAway.com Inc. Contractors in Hawaii service the suite.
"Everybody's looking for a constructive solution to a) make sure that taxes are being paid and b) make certain that there are safety requirements so that there's always going to be a point of contact if there's problems with the suite," Gardiner said last week.
But he added that there's little desire to make public information such as tax ID and phone numbers that could be used by criminal elements or for measures that would circumvent the rental of suites by owners.
Victoria investor Adam Leamy, who owns and offers for lease two units on Maui, goes a step further.
His submissions regarding the various bills point out that any legislation distinguishing between residents and non-residents risks running afoul of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A year ago, the province was experiencing what the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) termed "a two-speed market." Residential sales in Metro Vancouver were outpacing economic growth, pushing the region to its best March in seven years. This year, the dynamic has shifted. Residential sales in regions outside Metro Vancouver are outpacing Lower Mainland activity, which is declining. While provincewide housing sales are down, the latest BCREA report is clear that it's not the north driving the drop.
"Sales gains in the Interior and the north were offset again in February by less robust demand on the south coast," said Cameron Muir, the BCREA's chief economist.
Overall, unit sales were off 7.6% provincewide.
Muir credited a stable economic environment with steadying demand outside the Lower Mainland.
"The market in Vancouver has been quite flat, indeed, for many months," Muir said, "and home-sale activity has not shown any run-up in any significant sense since 2010."
On the other hand, current performance outside Vancouver promises good things for the rest of the province.
"If we can look at real estate or home-buying activity as a bellwether of things to come, then we certainly see an increase in activity," Muir said. "[This is] signalling that recovery is being more broadly based across the province."
Vancouver-based Aquilini Investment Group's play for a payoff in Moncton, New Brunswick, could reap rewards.
Moncton secured an option to purchase a $6 million site for a new convention centre last week. The option expires in March 2013; however, there's strong interest in seeing a $100 million development on the block – which is across the street from a purchase Aquilini announced in January.
Aquilini, which owns the local Crowne Plaza hotel, has publicly rejected speculation that its purchase had anything to do with the city's plans, but Aquilini principal Roberto Aquilini has said he'd be happy if the centre proceeds. •
