Housing
The UHERO Housing Policy Group provides rigorous analyses to inform debates regarding housing in Hawaiʻi, with a focus on the high housing cost burdens experienced by the State’s residents. This problem is multiscalar in its origins and thus requires a bundle of analyses ranging from longitudinal portraits of the State’s housing market, to estimates of the impact of housing costs on diverse communities, to objective evaluations of proposed policy solutions.
Homeowner Politics and Housing Supply
Restrictions on housing supply have contributed to a rapid increase in home prices and rents in many large cities. Incumbent homeowners may benefit financially from rising prices, while renters are harmed. Incumbent residents may also resist new local housing due to local congestion externalities. Supply restrictions are often implemented by city councils at the behest […]
Read MoreMeasuring the Burden of Housing Regulation in Hawaii
By Rachel Inafuku, Justin Tyndall, and Carl Bonham Home prices in Hawaii are among the highest in the nation: in 2021 the median single-family home resale price was about two and a half times the national median. One of the factors that may explain Hawaii’s high home prices are government regulations that limit the ability of the housing market to […]
Read MoreUHERO’s Philip Garboden selected as a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation
Congratulations to UHERO’s Philip Garboden for being selected as one of 14 scholars in the Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholars Program. While in residence at RSF in New York City, they will pursue research and writing projects that reflect the foundation’s commitment to strengthening the social sciences and conducting research “for the improvement of social […]
Read MoreThe Maui County Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan: Understanding its Pros and Cons and Ideas for How to Improve it
By Carl Bonham and Sumner La Croix A team of 19 planners, engineers, data and policy analysts, attorneys, and community development professionals has developed a comprehensive plan for the development of affordable housing in Maui County. The Maui County Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan is a major step forward in developing coherent strategies to address Maui […]
Read MoreThe Rising Cost of Climate Change on Home Values
By Justin Tyndall Climate change poses a clear threat to coastal real estate assets. As sea level rises and coastal weather events become more severe, exposed properties will experience recurring damage and some will become uninhabitable. Homebuyers may fail to fully appreciate the threat of sea level rise, causing homes in coastal areas to be […]
Read MoreThe local labour market effects of light rail transit
Many US cities have made large investments in light rail transit in order to improve commuting networks. I analyse the labour market effects of light rail in four US metros. I propose a new instrumental variable to overcome endogeneity in transit station location, enabling causal identification of neighbourhood effects. Light rail stations are found to drastically improve […]
Read MoreThe HCRC Affordable Housing Endowment Annual Report of Activities
In 2018, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa established the HCRC Professorship in Affordable Housing Economics, Policy, and Planning, thanks to the generous donations of the Hawai‘i Community Reinvestment Corporation (HCRC), American Savings Bank, Hale Mahaolu Central Office, the Hawaii Housing Development Corporation (HHDC), the Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation (HICDC), Hawaiian Electric Charitable Foundation, […]
Read MoreHow to Renovate Housing Policy in a Way that Works
How to Renovate Housing Policy in a Way that Works On May 12, the University of Hawaii Better Tomorrow Speaker Series series hosted a discussion with Stanford economist Rebecca Diamond to address the crisis in housing supply and affordability. Below are some highlights from the conversation, which were condensed and edited for clarity. If you missed the […]
Read MoreSea Level Rise and Home Prices: Evidence from Long Island
Global sea level rise is a known consequence of climate change. As predictions of sea level rise have grown in magnitude and certainty, coastal real estate assets face an increasing climate risk. I use a complete data set of repeated home sales from Long Island in New York State to estimate the appreciation discount caused […]
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