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The University of 91直播 Economic Research Organization on Thursday released the 2026 91直播 Housing Factbook, which shows that despite modest improvements in affordability, 91直播’s housing market remains deeply out of reach for many local families.

The annual report found that statewide home prices largely leveled off in 2025 after years of rapid increases. But researchers say rising insurance premiums, escalating homeowners association fees, persistent permitting delays and climate-­related risks continue to weigh heavily on the market.

“The data reflects our state’s deep housing crisis,” lead author Justin Tyndall said in a statement. “Restoring affordability will require the production of more housing, and confronting the barriers that prevent homes from being built.”

The statewide median price for a single-family home reached $950,000 in 2025, according to the report. Single-family home prices rose about 1% statewide, while condominium prices fell 2%.

UHERO researcher Trey Gordner said the overall trend was essentially flat.

“There’s a slight tick up for single family homes, a slight tick down for condo prices,” Gordner said. “So we just like to say that it’s pretty much a flat trend for this year.”

Combined with modest income growth and mortgage rates that have declined from post-pandemic highs, the flattening prices contributed to a second consecutive year of affordability improvements, according to the report.

Still, affordability remains far from attainable for most residents.

UHERO found that purchasing the median-priced single-family home still requires more than 180% of 91直播’s area median income, placing homeownership within reach for only about one in five households statewide.

Gordner described the severity of affordability pressures in recent years.

“When things were really, really rough a couple of years ago, not long after the (COVID-19) pandemic, it was about a 200% AMI (average median income) ratio for the typical single-family home,” he said. “If you had a family in Hono­lulu that wanted to afford the typical single-­family home, and you made a typical income, you would have to pair up with another family.”

That figure has since dropped closer to 180%, while condominiums have become comparatively more affordable.

“We’re getting back closer to 100 for condominiums, so that your typical household can afford the typical condo,” Gordner said.

But researchers cautioned that the gains are being offset by rising ownership costs, particularly for condominium owners.

New Census data cited in the report show that 42% of 91直播 homeowners pay monthly 91直播 Owners Association (HOA) or Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO) fees, compared with 25% nationally. 91直播 also recorded the nation’s second-highest median monthly HOA fee at $470.

In Honolulu, median advertised HOA or AOAO fees in February 2026 reached $882, according to UHERO’s analysis of real estate listings.

Insurance costs have also surged. The report found 91直播’s aggregate property insurance premiums increased 13% in 2024 — the largest annual increase in more than a decade and well above the national average.

“It’s one of the fastest growing components of the cost of home ownership,” Gordner said.

He noted that while financing costs have eased somewhat as mortgage rates decline, rising insurance and HOA expenses are eroding many of those affordability gains.

“The total picture of affordability is a bit more nuanced,” he said. “Your cost of financing is coming down pretty significantly, but because your carrying costs — particularly those around insurance and HOA fees — are coming up, it eats into that affordability.”

The report also points to mounting climate-related risks shaping 91直播’s housing market.

Severe Kona-low storms in March and April caused catastrophic flooding, landslides and more than $1 billion in estimated damage statewide, according to the report. Meanwhile, updated FEMA flood maps set to take effect in June will place roughly 3,700 additional Oahu parcels into Special Flood Hazard Areas, requiring many owners to purchase flood insurance to qualify for federally backed mortgages.

Gordner said insurers have increasingly since 2019 factored climate risk into pricing models, causing 91直播’s insurance costs to diverge from national trends even before the 2023 Maui wildfires.

“The recent increases in insurance are not strictly a Maui wildfires story,” he said. “Seeing exposure potentially to these sorts of natural disasters and other risks has been modeled more and more.”

The report also found that vacation rentals continue to occupy a significant share of housing stock on the neighbor islands. In 2025, 91直播 had about 34,500 active advertised vacation rentals statewide, up from 33,600 the previous year.

Vacation rentals account for roughly 20% of all housing units on Kauai and 15% in Maui County, compared with about 2.5% in Honolulu, according to the report.

Gordner said the removal of units from the long-term housing market contributes to higher prices, particularly in neighbor-island communities.

“When a large proportion of units leave not just the owner-occupied stock, but also that long-term rental stock, prices go up,” he said.

Maui County’s Bill 9 — which phases out roughly 7,000 short-term vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts beginning in 2029 — has already affected Maui’s condominium market, according to the report. Maui condominium prices in 2025 were down 11% from 2023 levels, while prices for what are known as Minatoya-list properties, which are directly affected by the bill, fell 16%.

UHERO researchers said increasing housing production remains the most effective long-term solution.

“If taking units out of the long-term market can increase prices, then adding units to the long-term market can bring that down,” Gordner said. “There’s another way to do it as well, which doesn’t have quite the same trade-offs related to jobs and economic growth, which is to build more housing.”

The report noted mixed progress on county permitting reforms aimed at accelerating housing construc­- tion. 91直播 and Maui counties reported faster single­-family permit processing times in 2025, while Kauai delays worsened.

On Oahu, UHERO said it could not obtain updated permitting records following the city’s transition to a new city Department of Planning and Permitting system.

“We’re not aware of when DPP plans to make those records publicly available,” Gordner said. “But when that data is available, we can guarantee that we’ll have it in the next Fact Book.”