2019 Hawai‘i Housing Planning Study to Gather Data

The Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation will partner with SMS Research to conduct a phone survey to gather data on housing supply and demand in Hawai‘i County and throughout the state.

The phone survey will start the week of Jan. 7, 2019, and be completed over the next two months.

“The 2019 Hawai‘i Housing Planning Study is designed to evaluate housing demand and conditions and will provide valuable data to plan housing programs,” said Craig K. Hirai, executive director of the HHFDC.

The study consists of four major tasks:

1. Gather and analyze data on demographic and economic characteristics of Hawai‘i households, the supply of housing in the short-run (two to five years) and long-run (five to 20 years) by specific geographic areas, income groups and Native Hawaiian status; and measure demand and trade-offs for different housing options.
2. Project statewide and county need by HUD income groups, elderly households, persons with special housing needs, at-risk homeless, and Native Hawaiian status.
3. Provide a statewide and county inventory, including government-assisted units and military housing on and off base.
4. Gather and analyze current and historic information statewide and by county.

“Folks in Hawai‘i have always been generous in answering this survey and we hope they can spare some time again this year,” said Jim Dannemiller, president of SMS Research & Marketing Services. “The data will be even more important this year because it looks like Hawai‘i will be building a lot more affordable housing over the next few years.”

Other participants in the study include the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority; Homeless Programs Office of the Department of Human Services; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Department of Community Services, City and County of Honolulu; Office of Housing and Community Development, County of Hawai‘i; Kauai County Housing Agency, County of Kauai; and Department of Housing and Human Concerns, County of Maui.

The HHFDC is the primary agency overseeing affordable housing finance and development statewide. The agency is tasked with developing low- to moderate-income housing projects and administering state rental assistance and home ownership programs.