Experts say the enemy is not out-of-state buyers but current zoning and housing regulations.
HONOLULU (KITV4) – Grassroot Institute of Hawaii released a report that stated most Hawaii homes are purchased from locals that want to buy a house. Experts say the enemy is not out-of-state buyers but current zoning and housing regulations.
“In a majority of homes, it wouldn’t take a lot to put up a wall to make another bedroom yet getting the permitting done for that and going through hoops for regulations can be very prohibitive. If we can solve little problem like this, we can go a long way to make houses available for our local people,” said Dr. Keli’i Akina, CEO of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.
Hawaii residents purchased almost 76% of the homes that were for sale while residents from the mainland accounted for 22%. Lastly, less than 2% were bought by residents from foreign countries.
According to their newest report, purchases from in-state residents steadily increased since 2010.
However, the state economist, Eugene Tian, disagrees in part with the study’s findings. He said the emphasis on outside buyers having no impact on housing prices is a little too simple. Other factors need to be included. He said it is premature to conclude that outside buyers have no impact since they purchase 25% of our homes – 25% is large enough to have an impact on the prices.
Realtor Abe Lee also added that zoning regulations add time to develop homes.
“In Hawaii, it can take 12-15 years to get re-zoning on our land. D.R. Horton bought 1,500 acres on the west Oahu side and it took almost 14 years to get it completed. It created more than 11,000 homes and the demand was there,” said Abe Lee, principal broker at Century 21 iProperties Hawaii.
Lee said he recommends aspiring home buyers to reach out to nonprofits that provide training and education on how to buy a home in Hawaii.
