As housing prices on Oʻahu hit record highs, families grapple with rising rents

Gavin Thornton, the executive director for Hawaiʻi Appleseed, said many working families are not only struggling to buy a place but are seeing rents skyrocket, too.

“I don’t think anyone would have imagined that things would have gone in the direction that they’ve gone, which is nearly straight up,” said Thornton.

The nonprofit helps low-income people with legal issues that often are related to affordable housing.

“We hadn’t been taking the steps necessary to address this housing crisis prior to the pandemic, prior to skyrocketing home prices,” said Thornton.

On top of those increases, mortgage rates are as high as they were a decade ago.

A 30-year fixed rate is over 5 percent.

“We as a community just need to make a decision that anybody that’s working 40 hours a week needs to be able to afford housing,” Thornton said. “Whether that’s through increasing their wages, or providing more government investment into housing so that people can afford a home.”