2011 Housing Planning Study - Inventory Report

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from 45 percent in 2006. The inventory and Census data differ significantly, however. Census data show that homeownership rates for the State were 54 percent in 1990, 56 percent in 2000, and 58 percent in 201012. Hawaii has a reputation for being one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation. This distinction is supported in the inventory by its median assessed value of $530,800 for single-family homes and $302,800 for condominiums in 2010. National data show Honolulu's median single-family home price at $579,300 and $311,100 for condominium units13 in the first quarter of 2011. Compare that with $545,100 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, $511,800 in Anaheim-Santa Anna-Irvine, $322,100 in Boston, $439,300 in the New York area, and $439,300 in Washington D.C. The national median for single-family homes was $158,700 for the same quarter, and you could buy the same house in Youngstown, Ohio, for about $55,000. The inventory's median value assessments were lower than in 2006, but higher than in 2003. This is again consistent with the widely accepted view of Hawaii home prices rising rapidly, holding for somewhat longer than expected, and falling more slowly than in comparable housing markets across the country. The National Association of Realtors' data show that while Honolulu has the highest prices in the nation, our single-family home prices dropped about seven percent between 2008 and 2011. Homes in the comparable high-priced markets shown above fell between 25 and 35 percent. Hawaii's units are generally mature, but not old, with an average age of 35 years for single- family units and 29 years for condominium units. As is true for all island communities, space is a limited resource and periods of high demand tend to favor production of smaller units. The average single-family housing unit in the 2010 inventory had about 1,600 square feet in area under roof. Hawaii's lot sizes are somewhat smaller than those in other U.S. markets, with an average size of about 14,700 square feet versus more than 20,000 square feet nationwide. Slightly more than 14 percent of Hawaii's housing units are owned by non-Hawaii residents, commonly referred to as "snowbirds' because they often spend the winter months enjoying Hawaii's mild climate. About eight percent of all out-of-state owners were residents of foreign countries. CITY & COUNTY OF HONOLULU According to the Census Bureau, there were 336,899 housing units in the City and County of Honolulu in July 2010. The total number of occupied housing units was 311,047. The total number of housing units available to the residential housing market (available units) would be between those two numbers. The 2011 HHPS housing inventory shows an estimated 329,724 units were available in 201014. 12 American Facffinder,American Facffinder2,tenure tables. 13 National Association of Realtors at www.reaRor.org. 14 Refer to Sources of Inventory Data on page 4 for a complete explanation of the reasons for the differences in total housing unit counts between U.S. Census and HHPS data. Hawari Housing Planning Study,2011 -Inventory Report Page 8 0 SMS, Inc. November,2011