2011 Housing Planning Study - Inventory Report

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The majority of housing units are concentrated in Honolulu (Zone 12, 26%)15 and Central Oahu (Zone 19, 28%)16. Zone 11 (Moanalua) is home to 12 percent to the housing units on the island, and Zones 13 (East Honolulu) and 14 (Leeward Coast) each have 11 percent of the total available housing units. The inventory for the City & County of Honolulu has the greatest diversity of unit types. Half of the units are single-family dwellings, compared to three-quarters or more on the Neighbor Islands. An additional 30 percent are condominium units and 13 percent are apartments. A small number of remaining units are military residences and student housing. While these numbers are small, Oahu had the lion's share of student housing, nearly all of the military housing, and 100 percent of coop units in the State. Housing Stock Growth Rates Oahu's housing stock stood at 329,724 housing units in 2010. That was up from 319,405 in 2006. The average annual growth rate was the lowest of all the counties —just 0.81 percent per annum. Oahu's average annual growth rate has been rising slowly but steadily since 1997. Before 1997, the Oahu housing stock grew by as much as two percent per year, even during the early nineties. Between 1997 and 2003, the rate was 0.11 percent per year and rates have risen only slightly since that time, apparently without regard to demand. The City and County housing inventory rose by 10,319 housing units in the four years since the last Housing Policy Study. The pattern of growth for single- and multi-family units was the exact opposite of other counties. Oahu's new stock included 4,754 single-family units and 6,495 multi-family units. The average annual growth rate for single-family units was 0.74 percent per year and about 0.89 percent per year for multi-family units. Shifting production toward multi- family units is a typical market reaction to decreasing demand. The move is often accompanied by a slight decrease in the price of new units often associated with a shift toward producing units for mid-range markets. Other Stock Characteristics The City and County of Honolulu housing unit inventory includes the highest priced units in the State. In 2010, Oahu single-family homes had a median assessed value of $608,300 and the median value of a condominium unit was $299,100. Both figures were a bit lower than in 2006 and higher than comparable values in 2003. Fully 70 percent of single-family housing units in the City & County of Honolulu were owner- occupied and 39 percent of residents in condominium units were homeowners. The overall homeownership rate was 47 percent. Honolulu's homes were the oldest in the State, with an average age of 39 years for single-family dwellings and 30 years for condominiums. 15 Throughout this report we use the two-digit citation for Tax Map Zones, where the initial digit references the island and the second digit references the TMK Zone. Thus Honolulu is zone "12", the number two zone on Oahu. The same system is used in the tables in the appendix for easy reference. A set of TMK maps also appears in the appendix in case there is any confusion about zone locations. 16 See Appendix Figures IA-1 throught IA4 for detailed maps of the TMK boundaries. Hawari Housing Planning Study,2011 -Inventory Report Page 9 0 SMS, Inc. November,2011