Maui’s Housing Further Devastated By Wildfires
Maui already had a housing crisis before wildfires ravaged the island, destroying up to 3,000 homes.
Hawaiian governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency over the lack of housing stock in July 2023 in response to worsening affordability. The pandemic housing boom resulted in a flood of wealthy buyers to the islands, pushing home sales worth more than $10 million six times higher in 2022 than in 2020.
“It’s like nothing anyone has ever seen before,” Matthew Beall, CEO of Hawaii Life, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s almost like a hot nightclub. It’s not can you get a deal, it’s can you get behind the rope and to the door.”
Just days before the fire, the U.S. Department…