Forgive me for my belated response to a recent letter that criticized my Dec. 4 Island Voices commentary about the proposed Honolulu “empty homes” tax (“Poking holes in empty homes tax alternative,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Dec. 27).
The writer challenged my statement that housing prices have fallen in Auckland, N.Z., since it rezoned three-quarters of the city in 2016 to allow greater housing density. He said home prices there have increased since then — and he was correct about that.
To clarify, he was talking about nominal prices, and I was talking about what economists call the counterfactual scenario. In other words, the studies I cited indicated the nominal prices would have been significantly higher without those reforms, by the percentage amounts I stated.
Ultimately, the evidence shows that comprehensive zoning reform, rather than vacancy taxes, offers the most promising path toward improving housing affordability, and Auckland’s 2016 experience provides compelling evidence for this approach.
Joe Kent
Executive vice president
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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