It was only a few years ago that almost half of Hawaii households could afford or qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. Though today, according to a newly published University of Hawaii Research Office study, only 2 in 10 of us can afford to buy that same house.

As though this is not a big enough problem, it is soon to be compounded by the looming home insurance crisis which will cast our elderly out of their homes — many of whom have worked a lifetime to pay off their mortgages just to be unable to afford skyrocketing homeowners insurance premiums.

As many of you have already heard, condo and homeowners insurance costs have gone through the roof. Take for example a prominent Hawaii Kai condo whose annual insurance premium has risen tenfold from $365,000 to $3,650,000 in a single year.

On an individual basis, owners are now being left to foot massive assessments and increases in their monthly HOA costs. To avoid this, associations are searching for cost-saving alternatives such as insuring for less than 100% of the building’s replacement cost, leaving their residents with diminished borrowing power and even greater financial risk down the line.

And, as all else fails, owners are increasingly scrambling to exit the mess by selling their units in an environment of high-interest and unaffordability, which disincentivizes many possible buyers.

Emergency meetings are happening in condos across the state, though our local government does not feel the same level of urgency. What’s happening to Hawaii homeowners now is partially due to this tone-deaf nature.

We had Senate Bill 3234 to stabilize the property insurance market and a watered-down study of the issue in House Bill 2686. But in the end, all concerns were neglected and left on the House-Senate Conference table, clearing the way for the insurance crisis to continue with no end in sight.

Sadly, the collateral damage the negligence has created is now hurting our kupuna the most. When our elderly on fixed incomes get hit with anywhere from a 100% to 1,000% increase in homeowners insurance, they panic, but expect relief and assistance in order to be able to stay in their homes.

For example, when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai in 1992 and all hurricane insurers pulled out of Hawaii (like they are doing now) the Legislature quickly created the Hurricane Relief Fund to assure bankers and mortgage holders that condo and homeowners would not be abandoned.

The solution to our present situation? Two options come to mind.

The first: The Legislature could create a Homeowners Insurance Relief Fund, much like the Hurricane Relief Fund after Iniki. This means the state of Hawaii’s good faith and credit stands between the private sector insurers and Hawaii homeowners if anything catastrophic occurs. This relief fund would tamp down insurance rates and make insurance affordable again as it did after Iniki hit Kauai.

The second option is to keep the Legislature from sitting on its hands and start solving this issue after failing to come to a resolution in the 2024 Regular Session.

With enough planning and oversight the Hawaii State House and Senate should call for a Special Legislative Session to address this insurance crisis and nip it in the bud before our elderly homeowners panic further, have their credit ratings tank or are foreclosed on.

Yes, this is an election year, and many legislators may have been thinking more about their reelection than insurance fixes. But now there’s one big flaw in this thinking, and that is that our kupuna own the most homes and condos in the state and are the largest and most reliable group to show up at the polls. Legislators neglecting the immediate insurance woes of these Hawaii residents do so at their own peril.

For my constituents and anyone who would like to join, I am sponsoring a town hall meeting with the Insurance Commissioner and the insurance industry along with representatives from the governor’s office, mayor’s office and Legislature. If you have been affected by the unfolding crisis I have just outlined, I encourage your attendance on July 2 at 6 p.m. at Hawaii Kai’s Hahaione Elementary School to share your situation and provide your feedback on solutions.