Honolulu takes far longer than most US cities to approve building permits, and that delay is pushing up home prices and rents for everyone on Oahu.

• A new nationwide study puts Honolulu in the worst group of 60 US cities for permit speed.
• A single-family home that takes under a year in a city like Reno takes twice as long in Honolulu, and apartment buildings take two to three times longer than in Indianapolis.
• Each year of delay adds about $100,000 to the cost of a unit, which lands on renters as sharply higher rent.
• Permit waits have doubled across the country over the past 25 years, but Honolulu has gotten much worse than that.
• The city's planning and permitting department accepts the findings and is leaning on an AI review tool, CivCheck, that is already cutting about 40 days off approvals.

Outlook: Early results from the AI review suggest permits could speed up, but Honolulu starts so far behind that housing costs are unlikely to ease soon.