Pod Squad: We Can Do Something About High Home Prices and Rents
Is it time to use tax penalties to go after the “people who are squandering the housing stock” by allowing homes to sit empty?
Everyone’s talking about Hawaii’s shortage of affordable housing these days, but what, specifically, can be done about it? That’s the question tackled in this installment of the Pod Squad, featuring Civil Beat’s Chad Blair and Eric Pape, as well as real estate analyst Ricky Cassiday.
Cassiday, who told state legislators in January that the cost of renting a home in Hawaii has jumped at least 10 percent over the past two years, called for more subsidies for homebuyers and renters.
Pape, who has been writing a series of Civil Beat stories about the cost of living in paradise, said government policymakers need to use targeted property tax increases to go after the “people who are squandering the housing stock” by allowing their residences to sit empty most of the time.
Hit the play button to hear the discussion or subscribe to the Civil Beat Pod Squad on iTunes or Stitcher. Mahalo for listening.
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