2019 Hawaii Housing Planning Study

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5. Housing Preferences (70%). Again, these figures suggest a willingness to accept smaller units than in the past. The a. For Owned Units number of bathrooms required was also relatively low, with 64 percent reporting that they could Once again, most effective demand buyers accept one or one-and-a-half baths. statewide (66%) preferred single-family detached Seventy-two percent (72%) of households that homes. Single-family units are more important to plan to rent their next unit said they would like to buyers in Kauai (98%), Maui (86%), and Hawaii buy a home in the future. Their reasons for not Counties (82%)than in Honolulu (62%). Maui and doing so now most often included the high cost of Kaua'i also showed the lowest preference for housing and insufficient funds for a down condominium units (0.6 and 8%, respectively). payment. Nearly 43 percent of potential buyers said they 'OUSING PRICES would be looking for a three-bedroom unit and 19 percent said they would need four bedrooms. The most distinctive characteristic of Hawai`i's When asked about the minimum number of housing market is high prices. Sumner La Croix bedrooms they could accept, 53 percent felt two may have been the first to point out that our bedrooms would be enough and another 32 housing prices have been some of the highest in percent reported a three-bedroom minimum. This the nation, dating back to at least the end of World willingness to settle for fewer bedrooms was War II. The HHPS has been following the price slightly higher than in the past, perhaps reflecting trends since the first edition in 1992. buyers' readiness to compromise on the unit size in the face of high prices. The same was true for the preferred number of bathrooms. More than 1. Sales Prices three-quarters of households would prefer two to three bathrooms, but close to half of buyers Figure 6 shows single-family and condominium conceded that they would be willing to accept a sales prices from 1985 to 2018 in Honolulu. unit with only one or one-and-a-half bathrooms (48%). Figure 6. Housing Prices in Honolulu, 1985-2018 $900 SFD Condo b. For Rented Units $800 o $• 700 Households that planned to rent their next home $• 600 in Hawaii in the next five years were mostly current renters (83%). Among these households $500 35 percent preferred to rent a single-family house. N $400 About 48 percent preferred a multi-family unit $300 such as an apartment (34%), condominium (8%), $• 200 or townhouse (6%). Preference for single-family homes was once again much higher on Neighbor $100 Islands, ranging from 57 to 70 percent versus 32 $0 percent for Honolulu. On O � � � � � cn� cn� cn ahu, nine percent of M M M �• cncncncn � 000000000 N N N N N N N N N prospective renters were interested in townhomes ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ›- ' versus 2 to 3 percent on the other islands. Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors. Across the State, renters' first choice would be Our last two price run-ups are easily identified. larger units with two (39%) or three bedrooms Housing prices more than doubled in a few years. (25%). Seven out of ten potential renter After each period of expansion, prices dropped households, however, were willing to take units slightly, then held in place. The adjustment period with fewer than three bedrooms, if necessary after 1989 was a decade long and the post-2008 Hawai'i Housing Planning Study,2019 Page 24 ©SMS December,2019