Why housing affordability progress stalls out in Hawaiʻi

At almost every legislative hearing, lawmakers say housing is their top priority. The cost of living is forcing families out. Our kids cannot afford to stay. Something has to change.

These concerns are legitimate. The gap between what a typical family earns and what a home costs has never been wider.

Renters, working families, Native Hawaiian households, and young people trying to enter the market all bear the weight of that gap.

The reforms most directly linked to lowering housing costs are well understood and readily available. They do not require new taxes or federal coordination. They require repealing rules that our own state and local governments created.

And yet, those reforms consistently stall. They get carved up in committee or die on third reading — often at the hands of the same legislators who just identified housing as their top concern.