Is the situation in, say, California much better?
Just as bad, perhaps worse. I can only speak for the SF Bay Area, from SF to San Jose. But that is bordered on both sides by large water, so the land has been occupied for 200+ years. There is no open space to build more, so current vaules have increased over and over for decades.
I did a Zillow search on the homes I owned in San Mateo, San Jose, and SF. I paid $76K for a home in SF in 1976 [that’s why it’s easy to remember] and Zillow estimates it today at $2.5m.
I could not afford to buy any of my former homes, so not sure the meaning of the Fox News message. Where there is only X amount of homes, but Y buyers, it’s simply a case of supply and demand.
The majority of people live on Oahu which has very high costs, so yes, the statement is correct but perhaps misleading. You CAN live cheaply in Hawaii if you choose differently.
Housing costs are probably cheapest in Hilo on the Big Island, far from Oahu.
My Sisters bought a 3 acre lot on the Big Island a couple years ago for $33,000. It had a house pad and was already leveled. They built a cabin, put up solar panels and live essentually off the grid for next to nothing. Their taxes and road dues are low. Their water and electric service are free of monthly fees and charges. After building the cottage themselves, the price for the lot and cottage are probably close to 80,000 or more now if they were to sell.
My farm was purchased at a discount (the owner was not keeping it up). In 2001 I paid $145,000 for 9 acres and a 1300 sq foot house. It is leasehold and I grow coffee and fruit. My property tax and lease fees are under $5,000 a year. If I really wanted to sell a lot of the crop I would make a considerable amount. The farm is probably worth $500,000 if I wanted to sell it along with the lease. A leasehold is not for everyone and I certainly got a deal, but there are other plusses here.
I saw the “What temperature do you set your thermostat to” thread. I don’t have one. Sometimes I turn on a fan. Summers at my altitude it is 85 during the day, 70 at night. Winter it drops ‘considerably’ to 80 during the day and 65 at night (brrr). Clothing allowance is next to nothing. Shorts or swim trunks in the yard. Shorts and t-shirt when I go out. Slippers/flipflops, no socks is quite common. I can see the Pacific from my farm and can be at the ocean in about 5 minutes. I’m a bit from Kona where there is a Costco, Target, Macys and walmart and many other stores. I have a grocery and some restaurants just a 7 minute drive from my farm. If I need major medical then Kaiser will pay to fly me to Oahu/Honolulu. Otherwise there is a Kaiser in town for less than critical care.
Friends come to visit me (you can understand why) and that saves a lot in travel costs.
My water bill is low and has no sewage costs. Electric is high but now we pay lots less if we shift heavy usage to daytime (when the sun is out). Also, customer-owned solar may eliminate the need to pay the utility anything except a standby charge.
So, YES I could never afford to live where 4 out of 5 Hawaiians live, but who wants to? We have very kind of weather there is on my island we just have to drive to it. We have snow and Oahu does not. We have nighttime skies to see stars that Oahu doesn’t. We have very rural areas that Oahu doesn’t. We don’t have the crime or traffic that Oahu does.
Oahu has a population density of 1700 people per sq mile while the Big Island has a population density of 50 people per sq mile.
I think I made my case 