‘Empty Homes’ and the Housing Crisis (Hawaii Together)

A Vacancy Tax Would Not Fix the Problem. The host for this show is Keli'i Akina. The guest is Jensen Ahokovi. Some state and county lawmakers in Hawai'i have proposed taxing so-called empty homes as a way to address Hawaii’s housing crisis. However, a new study from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii found no meaningful relationship between home vacancy rates and high home prices — in Hawai'i or anywhere else in the U.S. — which means that the 'empty homes' theory is just another time-wasting distraction from addressing the real cause of Hawaii’s housing shortage, which is too many regulations that hinder new homebuilding.The Institute’s new policy brief is titled The ‘empty homes’ theory of Hawaii’s housing crisis,' and was written by Institute staffers Jensen Ahokovi and Mark Coleman.On today’s episode of 'Hawaii Together,' host Keli'i Akina speaks with Ahokovi about the report — and why an empty homes tax would be unlikely to lower Hawai'i home prices or increase housing supply.The ThinkTech YouTube Playlist for this show is https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpkwcNJny6nA87XBgqRzAmCFmG39Wg_XPlease visit our ThinkTech website at https://thinktechhawaii.com and see our Think Tech Advisories at https://thinktechadvisories.blogspot.com.