Oahu rents still out of reach
for many, survey says

As bad as that seems, the affordability picture actually may be getting better.

When the National Low Income Housing Coalition took the same survey in 1995, 55 percent of Oahu renters didn't earn enough to afford a one-bedroom unit, compared with 47 percent this year. The new survey provides other signs that Oahu's housing crisis is easing, though advocates for the needy disagree with that notion:

• Fifty-three percent of isle renters earned less than the amount needed to afford an average two-bedroom home. In 1995, that figure was 65 percent.

• Rents continue to fall. In 1995, estimated fair-market rent was $909 for a one-bedroom home on Oahu and $1,069 for a two-bedroom unit. This year those rents had dropped about 9 percent to $826 and $973, respectively.

While the numbers show improvement, they also make clear that local housing still is the most costly in the nation. The Hawaii rents easily topped those in all other states.

And many of Oahu's low-income renters continue to live in inadequate housing or devote large chunks of their budget to rent, according to the coalition.

Nearly 66 percent spent more than what is considered affordable or live in homes that are overcrowded or lack complete kitchens or bathrooms, the survey said. That figure was unchanged from last year.

Julie Keim, director of social services for Homeless Solutions Inc., which runs four homeless shelters and a low-income rental complex, said demand for their facilities doesn't suggest an easing of Oahu's housing crisis.

Because of government budget cuts and other factors, Keim expects the crisis to worsen.

"If things seem to have stabilized, it may just be the lull before the storm," she said.