Condos are shown in Kihei in March. Maui County has the highest median condo prices in the state, according to a recent report, and also the highest median asking rent, according to a recent report that put in stark terms the state of Hawaii’s housing and renting market. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Maui County leads the state with the highest median asking rent, the highest median condominium price and is the most “severely rent burdened” in the state with renters paying more than 50 percent of their income toward rent, according to a recent report.
And, since 2000, Maui County has experienced a 339 percent price growth for homes, the second highest in the state, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization’s “The Hawai’i Housing Factbook” released Thursday.
According to the report, Hawaii is the most expensive state in the nation for housing, where median costs are 2.7 times higher than the national level. Over the past year, the median price of a single-family home sold in Hawaii was $852,000, and the median condo price was $600,000.
While Hawaii’s high housing costs may not be new to residents, UHERO said the aim of the report is to make its data resources widely available, provide an overview of current conditions and highlight ongoing research. The report also contains data at the state, county and zip code levels. Zip code level data has been largely unavailable until now and can improve understanding of local markets, according to the report.
“Addressing the housing crisis, and measuring progress, should be based on clear and accurate measurement of our challenges,” the report says. “By sharing data through this report we hope to contribute to a more informed housing debate.”
In Maui County, the median asking rent — which was derived from median price among rental housing advertisements on Craigslist — is $2,500, the most expensive across the state. Median rent in the county is $1,667, which is the second highest in the state. Honolulu City and County has the highest median rent at $1,870.
Maui County also has some of the highest rent-burdened residents statewide. The general rule of thumb for renters has long held that a maximum 30 percent of a person’s gross income should go toward rent, although a higher percentage could go toward rent depending on where a person lives.
Among renter households, 28.6 percent are “severely rent burdened” in Maui County, meaning that residents are paying more than 50 percent of their income for rent. It’s the most statewide by a slim margin, as the share of severely rent-burdened households is 28.5 percent in Honolulu County, 25.7 percent in Hawaii County and 23.8 percent in Kauai County.
A total of 53.7 percent of renter households in Maui County are considered “rent burdened,” meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. That is second highest in the state after Honolulu County, where 56.7 percent of renter households are considered rent burdened, compared to 50.1 percent in Hawaii County and 47 percent in Kauai County.
Maui County also tops the state when it comes the median condominium price at $880,000.
However, the county did not have the highest median single-family home price in the report, even at $1 million. The highest median single-family home price was in Honolulu County at nearly $1.06 million.
As for net housing units added over the past five years, Maui County saw minus 175.
The report said the number was derived by the difference between total housing units recorded in the 2021 5-year American Community Survey and the 2016 5-year American Community Survey.
Maui and Kauai County (minus 241) lost housing units overall, while Honolulu County saw 24,144 net housing units added and Hawaii County saw 2,931 net housing units added.
In an analysis of 63 zip codes across the state, Kaunakakai, Molokai had the second-to-the-lowest median rent in the state at $828. But it also had the highest percentage of rent-burdened households in the state, with 79.6 percent paying more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. It also had the second-highest percentage in the state of severely rent-burdened households with 50.2 percent of renters paying more than 50 percent of their income for rent.
In Lanai City, residents were the least rent burdened across the state with 15.8 percent of renters paying more than 30 percent of their income for rent.
Rent varied by communities, including in:
• Wailuku, where median rent is $1,531 and median asking rent on Craigslist is $2,600. The median single-family home price is $885,000 and median condominium price is $650,000.
• Kihei, where median rent is $1,886 and median asking rent on Craigslist is $2,800. The median single-family home price is $1.38 million and median condominium price is $1.18 million.
• Lahaina, where median rent is $1,810 and median asking rent on Craigslist is $3,000. The median single-family home price is $1.7 million and median condominium price is $840,000.
• Pukalani, where median rent is $1,684 and median asking rent on Craigslist is $2,600. The median single-family home price is $903,007 and median condominium price is $1.06 million.
• Haiku-Pauwela, where median rent is $2,032 and median asking rent on Craigslist is $2,475. The median single-family home price is $1.24 million and median condominium price is $1.10 million.
The factbook was authored by UHERO Assistant Professor Justin Tyndall, who was the lead author, as well as Data Scientist and Research Economist Daniela Bond-Smith and Research Economist Rachel Inafuku.
Later this year, UHERO will be launching an online data portal dedicated to housing. The portal will provide additional data and allows the public to explore and download the data themselves.
To view the full report, visit uhero.hawaii.edu/the-hawaii-housing-fact
book/.
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
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