Only three cities had less-affordable homes than Honolulu's in the April-June quarter, according to a report issued today by the National Association of Home Builders.
That was a deterioration from Honolulu's ranking of fifth least-affordable in the first quarter. Prices and interest rates were higher in the more recent quarter, the association said.
In the three months ending June 30, a family on the median income in Honolulu could afford less than one in three of the homes that were sold, a 30.8 percent affordability level, the report said.
That was a shift from the previous quarter, when 39.2 percent of Honolulu homes were within reach of the family with the median income, the point where half the families earn more and half earn less. And it was also down from the second quarter of 1995, when the median income family could afford any home among 38.6 percent of those sold.
The trade association's economists said that the median price among single-family and condominium units in Honolulu in the second quarter was $240,000. Federal statistics reported a median annual family income in Honolulu of $55,900. The association also takes interest rates, which rose in the quarter, into account when assessing affordability.
Bank of Hawaii's chief economist, Paul Brewbaker, said home prices appear to have bottomed out in Hawaii, interest rates are up and there has been little or no real improvement in incomes. "Interest rates obviously are higher right now than they were six months ago and income growth has been virtually nil," he said.
However, Honolulu homes are generally more affordable than they were five years ago, he said.
Honolulu residents were still better off than their counterparts in the least-affordable city, San Francisco, where a median-income family could afford only 22.3 percent the homes sold.
The most affordable place on the survey was Rockford, Ill., where the median-income family could afford 87.1 percent of the homes. Rockford was followed by Elkhart, Ind., at 86.7 percent, Des Moines, Iowa, at 85.5 percent and Utica, N.Y., 84.9 percent.
Out of 181 areas surveyed, these are the five least affordable U.S. housing markets in the second quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
181. San Francisco
180. Santa Cruz, Calif.
179. Salinas, Calif.
178. Honolulu
177. Portland, Ore.