Housing units up on Neighbor Islands
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Spurred by population growth, the Neighbor Islands added more housing units than O'ahu between July 2001 and July 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.
Overall, the state's housing inventory grew to 466,978 units as of July 1, 2002. That represents a 1.1 percent increase over July 1, 2001.
Hawai'i lagged slightly behind the nation as a whole in housing growth, according to the Census Bureau. The United States saw a 1.3 percent increase during the one-year period, bringing the nation's housing stock to an estimated 119.3 million units.
In Hawai'i, the combined number of new housing units in the Neighbor Island counties outpaced new units on O'ahu, home to roughly 80 percent of the state's population. Percentage increases in housing also were higher in Hawai'i, Maui and Kaua'i counties.
With the Big Island leading the way, the Neighbor Islands saw the addition of 2,589 new units during the year, compared with O'ahu's 2,559 units.
The Big Island added 1,354 housing units — a 2.1 percent gain — for a total of 64,367. Maui County gained 991 units — a 1.8 percent increase — for a total of 57,616 units. Kaua'i County's housing inventory increased by 245 — a 1 percent gain — to 25,637.
At the same time, the number of housing units on O'ahu increased to 319,187 as of July 1, 2002. That represents only a 0.80 percent gain over the year.
The populations of Maui and Hawai'i counties grew by more than 4 percent between the 2000 census and July 1, 2002, according to recent Census Bureau estimates, while O'ahu's population grew by about 2.3 percent.
Chris Anderson of the Building Industry Association of Hawai'i said record-low interest rates are causing the home construction boom, and more timely numbers would show housing numbers climbing higher across the state.
"The bottom line is that developers are building as fast as they can. They can't keep up. They're selling homes six to seven months (before buyers are moving in)," Anderson said.
