Every county in Hawaii rolled out new real property tax rates for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2026, and by now most owners have seen the updated numbers on their tax bills. The broad pattern is the same from Kauai to Hawaii Island: owner-occupants are largely protected, while non-owner-occupied, investment, and short-term rental properties are absorbing steeper increases, especially at higher price points. If you own property here, are shopping for one, or are weighing whether to keep a place as a long-term rental versus a vacation rental, the new rate structure changes the math. And if you're on Oahu and bought your primary home this year, there's a deadline tied to all of this landing today.
What changed statewide this fiscal year
Each county now leans more heavily on tiered rates, meaning the tax rate itself climbs as a property's assessed value crosses certain thresholds, rather than applying one flat rate to every home in a class. The effect is that a modestly priced owner-occupied home barely feels the shift, while a multimillion-dollar non-owner-occupied property can see its effective rate roughly double or triple compared to just a few years ago. Counties have framed this as shifting more of the burden toward wealthier investors and second-home buyers, and away from local families living in their own homes.
Oahu: two tiers for non-owner-occupied property
On Oahu, the City and County of Honolulu now splits non-owner-occupied residential property into two bands. A non-owner-occupied home valued up to $1 million is taxed around $4.00 per $1,000 of net assessed value, but once a property's value exceeds that $1 million mark, the rate jumps to roughly $11.40 per $1,000 on the excess. Since Oahu's median single-family home price is well north of $1 million this year, this tier matters for more owners than it might sound like at first. Owner-occupants with a home exemption on file are shielded from this jump and pay the much lower residential rate instead.
Maui and Kauai: a wider gap for non-residents and vacation rentals
Maui County continues to run some of the widest spreads in the state, with non-owner-occupied rates ranging from about $6.25 up to $17.00 per $1,000 depending on value, and short-term vacation rental properties taxed at the high end of that range, roughly $13.00 to $17.00 per $1,000. Kauai's new rates for the year are more moderate but follow the same shape: owner-occupants pay around $2.59 per $1,000, while non-owner-occupied residential property is tiered at roughly $5.45, $6.05, and $9.40 per $1,000 as value rises past $1.3 million and $2 million. If you're evaluating a Maui or Kauai purchase purely as a numbers exercise, these carrying costs belong in your spreadsheet alongside insurance and HOA fees, not as an afterthought.
Big Island: a real incentive to go long-term
Hawaii County has built in one of the more direct incentives in the state for owners willing to rent to local residents rather than vacationers. Long-term rental properties there qualify for a preferential classification taxed around $7.75 per $1,000, well below the rates charged to short-term vacation rentals and general non-owner-occupied property. For an investor sitting on a Big Island condo or home who has been on the fence about switching from nightly rentals to a 12-month lease, this year's rate gap makes that decision easier to pencil out.
Today's deadline if you bought on Oahu this year
Separate from all of this, if you purchased and moved into a home on Oahu this year and haven't yet filed for your home exemption, today, September 30, 2026, is the deadline with the City's Real Property Assessment Division. Filing by today locks in the lower owner-occupant rate for the 2027-2028 tax year instead of paying the non-owner-occupied rate on a home you actually live in. It's a five-minute form that can save you thousands of dollars a year, and missing it means waiting until next year's window to fix it.
What this means for your next move
None of this should scare anyone off buying in Hawaii, but it should sharpen how you run the numbers. If you're purchasing a primary residence, file your exemption promptly and don't skip that step. If you're buying as an investor, price the correct tax tier into your return before you write an offer, not after closing. And if you already own a vacation rental on the Big Island or in Maui County, it's worth running the comparison between current rental income and what you'd net after taxes under the long-term rental classification. Property tax rarely makes headlines the way mortgage rates do, but this year's rate structure is quietly one of the bigger swing factors in what it actually costs to own here.