The council measure would re-establish income restrictions for homes priced as low as $231,355 under the county's affordable housing program, as home prices have shot up to an average of around $400,000 for new homes on O'ahu.

The resolution would restore part of an ordinance suspended five years ago, and allow only families that generally earn less than $80,000 to buy affordable homes built under the county agreements.

"I would qualify, but it's kind of late," said Bernard Ramos, a resident who participated in three lotteries before being selected to buy a new home in Mililani Mauka for close to $500,000. "(The price) might be a lot for us, but we're going to have to deal with it."

The ordinance applies mostly to Leeward O'ahu projects built on former agriculture land, where private developers agreed, in consideration for zoning changes, to sell a percentage of homes at prices set by a city formula tied to Honolulu's median household income and interest rates.

In the 1980s such agreements required as much as 60 percent of new homes to be sold at affordable prices. More recent agreements generally require 30 percent.

During the state's economic malaise in the 1990s, home values decreased and developers got stuck with affordable homes they couldn't sell, so in 1999 the city amended the housing ordinance to allow purchase of affordable homes regardless of income.

The eliminated income restriction would have been restored automatically on Aug. 5, 2005. The council resolution proposes reinstating the restriction effective Dec. 1.

Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, who introduced the resolution and related Bill 47, said affordable housing has become a crisis. "With housing prices taking off the way they have, the affordable housing market has become very tight," she said.

Developers and industry observers said the recent meteoric rise in home prices, combined with tight inventory, has led more affluent buyers to compete for affordable homes, often beating out moderate-income buyers, who have fewer choices.

"When there's a limited supply, you have buyers of different classes buying whatever they can get their hands on," said Dean Uchida, executive director of the Land Use Research Foundation.

Mike Jones, president of the local D.R. Horton subsidiary Schuler Homes, said the income restriction will make selling homes more cumbersome because of the need to check tax returns and submit reports to the city.

But "it's a good thing for these people," he said. "It's giving the people a chance to buy homes they can afford. I think it's obviously a sign of the market and how strong the market is."

The average price of new homes on O'ahu, including affordable units, has been around $400,000 in recent months, from closer to $250,000 in the late '90s.

Prices for affordable units, meanwhile, are as low as $231,355, based on the city's formula for a salary of $52,550, 80 percent of the median income.

A buyer earning up to the median income of $65,688 could buy a home for $302,142. Earning up to $78,825, or 120 percent of the median, qualifies for a $372,929 home.

Recent affordable housing agreements with developers typically reserve 10 percent of units for families earning 80 percent or less of the median income, and 20 percent of units for buyers earning 120 percent or less of the median income. Some units can be rentals, though most are sold fee-simple.

Other provisions of the program that would be reinstated include rights for the city to buy back affordable units at a slightly higher price if an owner sells within 10 years, and rights for the city to share in the appreciation of units if sold after 10 years.

Since 1999, the buy-back and shared-appreciation term has been three years. A requirement that affordable unit buyers live in the unit has not changed.

From 1999 through June 2003, private developers produced an average of 850 affordable homes a year under the program, which excludes government-sponsored projects such as Villages of Kapolei and affordable homes built under other city and state rules.

About 800 affordable units under the program are projected be built during the city's 2004 fiscal year that began July 1.

The council resolution and bill recently passed a planning committee hearing, but still need to be heard by the zoning committee and be reviewed and reintroduced by the city Department of Planning and Permitting.

Marshall said the approval process might run beyond the bill's Dec. 1 proposed implementation date, but "I feel like there's an urgency," she said.