UHERO Analytics

Maui Short-Term Rentals, the Minatoya List, and Housing Supply June 25, 2024 By Justin Tyndall and Emi Kim Recent state legislation has given counties new powers to regulate Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) properties. A proposal on Maui would significantly reduce the number of TVRs by withdrawing permission to operate for over 7,000 properties. Below, we briefly summarize the policy proposal and discuss the characteristics of the units… Read More

The Hawaii Housing Dashboard September 26, 2023 The high cost of housing in Hawaiʻi imposes significant financial and emotional burdens on residents, making it a pressing concern across the islands. Comprehensive data and analysis serve as critical tools to inform discussions and policy decisions. In response to this need, UHERO launched the Hawaiʻi Housing Factbook project. The first edition of the Factbook,… Read More

Short-term Vacation Rentals and Housing Costs in Hawaiʻi April 18, 2023 By Rachel Inafuku and Justin Tyndall Of the state’s 565,000 total housing units, 30,000 are listed as Short-term Vacation Rentals (STRs), meaning roughly 5% of local housing units operate as tourist accommodations. In a tight housing market with high prices and barriers to creating new supply, removing supply from the long-term housing market could harm… Read More

The Rising Cost of Climate Change on Home Values October 19, 2021 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 More

Blog: Improving Pedestrian Safety in Hawaiʻi August 12, 2021 By Justin Tyndall Over 2,500 people have been killed in motor vehicle crashes in Hawaiʻi since 2000, averaging a person every three days. Car crashes are a leading cause of accidental death, particularly for younger people. In a different setting, this scale of mortality might be treated as a public health emergency, but we have… Read More

Traffic in Honolulu: How to Make Transitory Pandemic Gains Permanent April 26, 2021 By Justin Tyndall and Sumner La Croix During the COVID-19 pandemic, Honolulu traffic became much less congested.  Local and state governments could help residents keep the social benefits from traffic control by providing incentives to private firms to stagger hours and/or keep more employees working at home. A congestion zone fee to drive within the downtown-to-Waikiki corridor… Read More

COVID-19 infections, vaccines, and economic recovery April 16, 2021 By Carl Bonham, Peter Fuleky, Byron Gangnes, and Justin Tyndall A year ago Hawaii was operating under its first COVID-19 Stay at Home Order. As business activity contracted, the state quickly shed more than 150,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate jumped from 2% to 22%. Today there is hope that the devastation brought by the… Read More

Mobility Data Shows Fewer Residents Staying at Home April 15, 2021 By Joshua Hu and Justin Tyndall Hawaii has steadily moved forward with its vaccination initiative. Currently, the CDC reports that 26% of Hawai’i residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, slightly above the national rate of 24%. Despite progress in vaccinations, during the period from mid-February to early April, Hawai’i has undergone a rise in new… Read More

Are Hawai’i Residents Staying at Home? December 9, 2020 By Justin Tyndall and Joshua Hu Staying at home and avoiding crowded spaces is an important way for residents to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Measuring the ability and willingness of Hawai'i’s residents to stay at home is difficult. Having more information on resident movements can help gauge the frequency of in-person interactions and… Read More

The Agony of Restaurant Workers March 24, 2020 Social distancing is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, but has significant economic impacts, hitting dine-in eateries disproportionately hard. Read More

Hawaii Innovation Matters May 9, 2016 By Carl Bonham Innovation is the key to economic growth and prosperity. In the US, innovation-led productivity growth accounts for roughly half of all the increase in US GDP. And despite our increasingly connected global economy, innovation occurs at the regional level. While there is no shortage of reports that provide snapshots of Hawaii’s innovation… Read More

The UHERO Dashboard Project Jobs Explorer: Occupations in Hawaii October 8, 2013 The Hawaii Jobs Explorer, the first interactive tool to be released as a part of the ongoing UHERO Dashboard Project, is now available for public use. The Hawaii Jobs Explorer is a thorough examination of occupations and salaries in the state of Hawaii, presented in a visual, easy-to-navigate context. The data-rich design allows users to… Read More

UHERO Unveils Redesigned Data Portal October 22, 2010 UHERO unveiled its redesigned UHERO Data Portal, a free online resource that provides access to the most up-to-date information on a wide array of economic and social indicators for the state and county economies. The completely revamped design, made possible by generous support from Bank of Hawaii, provides improved navigation, expanded functionality, and an attractive,… Read More