By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Federal housing officials have pledged to support people affected by the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui as the state’s governor warns developers to stay away.
Officials from Ginnie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs issued a joint statement on Friday saying they are “committed to providing homeowners flexibilities and assistance so they feel the security of knowing they will have the option to return and rebuild when it is safe to do so.”
FHA-approved lenders doing business in Maui are encouraged to familiarize loan officers and operational teams with FHA’s 203(h) Disaster Mortgage, which provides up to…
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…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is devoting more than $21 million to support affordable housing for low-income Native Hawaiian families.
The funding will be distributed as a Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and may be used for everything from constructing new homes to buying existing homes for rehab, as well as various support services.
It can also be used to provide rental assistance to Native Hawaiians living both in Hawaii and in the continental U.S.
HUD officials say NHHBG funds throughout the last twenty years have created 750 affordable homes, supported community centers, and provided families with housing-related services like rent assistance and home repair training.
In line with this…
