The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) is partnering with SMS Research to conduct a phone survey to gather data on housing supply and demand.

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

“The 2019 Hawaii 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.

• Gather and analyze data on demographic and economic characteristics of Hawaii households, the supply of housing in the short-run (2-5 years) and long-run (5-20 years) by specific geographic areas, income groups and Native Hawaiian status; and measure demand and trade-offs for different housing options.

• Project statewide and county need by HUD income groups, elderly households, persons with special housing needs, at-risk homeless, and Native Hawaiian status.

• Provide a statewide and county inventory, including government-assisted units and military housing on and off base.

• 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. The data will be even more important this year because it looks like Hawaii will be building a lot more affordable housing over the next few years,” stated Jim Dannemiller, president of SMS Research & Marketing Services.

Other participants in the study include the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Hawaii 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 Hawaii; 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.

