There is a new affordable housing community in the plans for the Big Island of Hawaii, Ho’omalu at Waikoloa Beach Resort. It will be the first affordable housing development within the resorts on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here are some questions that many people may have about affordable housing projects on the Big Island of Hawaii.
What is affordable housing?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing where the occupant is paying 30% or less of the gross income on total housing including utilities. This definition does not give you much insight as to pricing because it does not take into account the income of a person. For example, if you make $1,000,000 a year and you purchase a house for $700,000 and get a standard 30 year mortgage, that house would be affordable. Given this each state or county comes up with their own terms for each affordable housing development.
How is affordable housing defined on the Big Island of Hawaii?
For the Big Island of Hawaii the Office of Housing and Community Development is responsible for the terms related to affordable housing and most of their terms. Annually there is typically increases to the figures for both rentals and sales. Each year the amounts and terms of affordable housing are updated so there is no set figures for Ho’omalu at Waikoloa Beach Resort yet, but the 2023 figures will give residents a reasonable idea of cost.
Who qualifies for affordable housing on the Big Island of Hawaii?
This is one of the terms that is set for each individual project. It is based on a percentage of the average median income in the area not to exceed a certain amount to make sure the recipients of the housing are who are getting them. For Ho’omalu at Waikoloa Beach Resort it will be available to people that are at 30% to 100% of the AMI (average median income for Hawaii County). This range is great for Waikoloa Beach Resort, because within that range is where most of the resort workers fall.
Waikoloa Vacation Rentals manages many of the vacation rentals at Waikoloa Beach Resort and offers one of the largest selections of vacation rentals.