Hawaiʻi residents face the highest housing costs in the nation. High housing costs lower the standard of living for residents and can hinder the ability to attract workers to the state. To inform discussions and potential policy decisions on the way forward for housing in Hawaiʻi, the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) released the first edition of an annual report on the state of housing called “The Hawaiʻi Housing Factbook.”
The report shares data at the state, county and zip code levels. Zip code level data has been largely unavailable until now, and can improve the understanding of local markets. The data include zoning, rental market, property market and housing stock.
“We find housing characteristics, production and affordability vary widely across Hawaiʻi’s neighborhoods,” according to the report. “By providing housing data points in a unified reference book, UHERO hopes to reduce the barriers to accessing timely and important housing data.”
To understand the housing market, UHERO worked with local and national data providers to compile a database of housing indicators that capture the current state of the housing market. Tracking changes in housing costs, production, demand and local demographics can help to understand evolving conditions. While other UHERO studies will take deeper dives into specific housing issues, this report aims to make the data resources widely available, provide an overview of current conditions and highlight ongoing research.
Later this year, UHERO will be launching an online data portal dedicated to housing. The portal provides additional data and allows the public to explore and download the data for themselves.
The report was authored by Tyndall, Data Scientist and Research Economist Daniela Bond-Smith and Research Economist Rachel Inafuku. Assistant Software Developer Victoria Rhinebolt designed the report.
UHERO is housed in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences.