2006 Housing Policy Study by SMS Research & Marketing Services, Inc.

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CURRENT HOUSING SITUATION OF HAWAII RESIDENTS Among Hawaii's 435,818 households in 2006, about 60 percent were homeowners. Even on Oahu home ownership rose to 58 percent. It was as high as 68 percent in Hawaii County, 65 percent on Kauai, and 60 percent in Maui County. Among homeowners, ownership in fee was higher than in the past, reaching 93 percent for the State as a whole, and differing only slightly across counties" About 65 percent of all households were living in single - family detached dwelling units. Seventeen percent were renting apartments, and about ten percent were living in condominium units, either owned or rented. Most of the rest were in multi - family units including townhouses, duplexes, and other multiplex units. On Oahu, about 58 percent of households were living in single - family units and more were in all of the other unit types. The Counties of Hawaii and Kauai found around 85 percent of the households in single - family units with fewer families housed in other types of units, especially condominium units. Only about 3.5 percent of their households are in condos, compared with 11.5 percent on Oahu. Maui County's housing pattern is roughly between Oahu and the other two counties, with 75 percent in single - family units and nine percent in condos. We have already noted the rapidly rising cost of housing on all counties since 2003. At present, the average homeowner in Hawaii has a monthly mortgage payment of about $1,553 a month and the average renter is paying nearly $1,100 per month in rent. Maui County housing costs, both rent and mortgage payments, were the highest in the state according to survey data. That finding was corroborated by the rent study as well (see Table 6 and Figures 2a through 2d). Table 7. Average Monthly Housing Costs by County, 2006 Monthly housing costs rounded to the nearest $10. See Table Al for details. With nearly two years of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, Hawaii household incomes increased between 2003 and 2006. In part, our higher incomes are due to much larger household sizes with several earners per household. For this reason, housing analysts seek a measure of economic well -being that takes household size into account. Housing Policy Studies since 1992 have used the income guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for that purpose. HUD guidelines express income in terms of the median household income for each of Hawaii's four Counties. Figure 3 shows the distribution of Hawaii households according to HUD guidelines in 2006. 11 For details on finding reported in this section, see Table Al in the appendix. Hawaii Housing Policy Study, 2006 Page 16 © SMS, Inc. February, 2007 State of County County County County Hawaii of Honolulu of Hawaii of Maui of Kauai Average monthly mortgage payment $ 1,550 $ 1,590 $ 1,250 $ 1,820 $ 1,460 Average Monthly rent $ 1,050 $ 1,060 $ 1,000 $ 1,080 $ 1,050 Monthly housing costs rounded to the nearest $10. See Table Al for details. With nearly two years of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, Hawaii household incomes increased between 2003 and 2006. In part, our higher incomes are due to much larger household sizes with several earners per household. For this reason, housing analysts seek a measure of economic well -being that takes household size into account. Housing Policy Studies since 1992 have used the income guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for that purpose. HUD guidelines express income in terms of the median household income for each of Hawaii's four Counties. Figure 3 shows the distribution of Hawaii households according to HUD guidelines in 2006. 11 For details on finding reported in this section, see Table Al in the appendix. Hawaii Housing Policy Study, 2006 Page 16 © SMS, Inc. February, 2007