The Miyagi district in Chatan town, a popular off-base housing area for U.S. service members on Okinawa, is pictured on Sept. 24, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Marine spouse Hillary Jones expected to move into her family’s new home Thursday after spending 44 days in three hotels with her husband and 2-year-old son while waiting for military housing on Okinawa.
Jones arrived Aug. 11 and was finally offered a home at Camp Foster on Sept. 15, she said by email Wednesday.
Her lengthy wait is not unusual. A shortage of available homes both on and off U.S. military installations means some newly arriving families may spend up to three months in temporary lodging, 18th Wing commander Brig. Gen. John Gallemore said during an American Forces Network livestream Friday.
“In hindsight, I should have just stayed back home in the States with my family and taken a later rotator flight in late September or October,” Jones said after a Sept. 3 housing town hall at Kadena Air Base. “And I would have saved a lot of money, a lot of grief, a lot of stress.”
The Miyagi district in Chatan town, a popular off-base housing area for U.S. service members on Okinawa, is pictured on Sept. 24, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
The Air Force manages 7,273 base homes, Gallemore said Friday. Of these, about 25% are under renovation, wing Chief Master Sgt. William Cupp said in the same livestream.
“Several hundred” may be available by December, he added.
Families looking outside the gates are finding few alternatives.
Only 317 of approximately 8,400 off-base rental properties available to U.S. military families were vacant in August, according to the Air Force — a vacancy rate of less than 4%.
Seaside Housing, which rents to about 700 military-connected families, had approximately 250 families on its waiting list and no available properties, front manager Roberto Harding said by phone Sept. 16.
Demand has also surged at Tomiya Housing. An average of 10 U.S. families a day have called or emailed looking for homes in recent months, Shunto Shinzato, the agency’s manager for military renters said by phone Sept. 17. Last year, the agency received between zero and four such calls per month.
The Okinawa Family Housing Office has taken steps to get more rentals onto the market.
On Aug. 28, the office eliminated a requirement to reinspect previously approved off-base homes each time a tenant moves out, according to a memo from Lt. Col. Akira Nervik, commander of the 718th Civil Engineer Squadron.
The office has added eight augmentees to its 26 permanent off-base housing inspectors, Gallemore said Friday.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Dennise Velasquez is concerned that is still not enough. She arrived on Okinawa on Aug. 15 with her Marine husband, two children and two Australian shepherds. They have changed hotels four times.
“There’s plenty of houses that I’ve seen off-base that are available,” she said by phone Friday. “The agencies can’t get fast enough appointments for the inspectors to come and get these houses granted so that the service members can actually go look at them.”
She said her family and others are competing with single service members for three-bedroom homes.
“At least restrict those individuals to getting a one- to two-bedroom apartment versus them getting an entire house,” she said.
The Air Force has also identified the conversion of some properties serving military families into more lucrative vacation rentals as another source of pressure on the market.
Landlord Yukinari Ota converted his house in Okinawa city from a long-term rental for U.S. military families to an Airbnb about two years ago. He now earns about $1,200 more per month and has greater flexibility in setting the rental price, he said by phone Sept. 17.
Jones said she appreciates housing office efforts to ease the problem but hopes officials ultimately address the fundamental issue.
“There’s just not enough housing for us, whether it be on base or off,” she said.
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