U.S. Census Bureau data show Hawai’i’s housing costs are the highest in the nation, with the median value of owner-occupied units at $284,536. That’s still lower than the median value of residential units sold on Kaua’i over the first seven
U.S. Census Bureau data show Hawai’i’s housing costs are the highest in the nation, with the median value of owner-occupied units at $284,536. That’s still lower than the median value of residential units sold on Kaua’i over the first seven months this year.
According to statistics from the Kaua’i Board of Realtors, the median sales price for a single-family home on the island for the first seven months of this year was $297,000, up from $255,000 for the same period in 2000.
Hawai’i by far has the highest statewide housing costs in the nation, but ranks only fifth in the nation in household incomes to pay for the high cost of living, according to the Census Bureau.
A limited supply of available homes for sale has pushed up the price of for-sale homes, and has contributed to something not many people on Kaua’i need Census data to validate: There is an acute housing shortage.
“We know there’s a critical housing shortage on the north shore,” said Ken Rainforth, executive of housing in the county Offices of Community Assistance. “We know it’s pretty bad in Lihu’e, and it’s not great any place else. We all know that because we have more than 1,000 units with our Section 8 (federal rental assistance) program,” he added. “We know what the marketplace is like. We watch the for-sale real estate stuff, too.”
While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates Kaua’i’s median income for a family of four is around $51,000, similar to the statewide Census statistic, the county’s own study confirmed what county housing officials have figured all along: The median income of a Kaua’i family of four is closer to $41,000.
That makes it even more difficult for a family to afford to purchase housing on the island, though it might make it easier for the multi-generational family structures here and in Hawai’i to afford the less expensive rental housing because of their combined incomes. The Census 2000 Supplemental Survey of 700,000 households around the nation released Monday found the median value of owner-occupied housing units in Hawai’i at $284,536, more than double the national median of $120,162.
However, Michael Sklarz, a leading economist and veteran in Hawai’i’s real estate market, said the Census data is “silly” and “meaningless” because it compares Hawai’i, where housing is concentrated in urban Honolulu, to states with large rural areas.
“It’s like comparing a city to all other states. What does it mean?” said Sklarz, a member of the state’s Council on Revenues, which closely monitors the state’s economy.
When comparing Honolulu’s housing cost with other cities, it no longer is the highest, although it still ranks in the top third, he said.
He pointed to communities in the San Jose area in California, where housing costs now are double those in Honolulu.
For renters, the census report shows Hawai’i’s median gross cost is $813 a month, compared to $612 nationally.
The median monthly mortgage in Hawai’i was $1,863, compared to $1,307 nationally.
The median household income in the last 12 months in Hawai’i was $51,046, the fifth highest in the nation but still well ahead of the national median of $41,343. New Jersey was highest at $54,226, while West Virginia, where housing cost ranks lowest in the nation, trailed at $28,569.
The state’s chief economist, Pearl Iboshi, said Hawai’i’s high housing costs “reflect, in part, the demand of people who want to live here, and reflect our relative small geographic size as well as restrictions on growth.”
Hawai’i’s housing costs, however, become more affordable because of higher household incomes from multiple-generation families sharing a home, she said.
So why do Hawai’i’s people put up with their high cost of living?
“It’s wonderful here. What can you say? Just look outside,” she said.
“The really good data, the detailed data, isn’t going to come up from the Census for another year,” Rainforth said of Kaua’i-specific housing numbers. “So, when that happens, we’re going to be doing a lot of studies to find out exactly what the housing situation is,” Rainforth said. “But until then, we kind of have to wait and see,” with existing studies based on 1990 Census data or more current, locally gathered information.
For more Census information, visit http://www.census.gov.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
Associated Press contributed to this report.
