OHA says AHAO pilot has closed first home; 381 inquiries and nearly $4 million in purchase pipeline after 13 weeks

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs reported progress this meeting on AHAO (Access to Homeownership), its deposit-backed mortgage pilot with American Savings Bank, including the program’s first closed purchase and a multi-island pipeline of applicants.

Director of Economics and Business Resilience Poni Eskew told trustees that 13 weeks after launch the program had logged 381 inquiries and 213 beneficiaries verified through OHA’s Hawaiian Registry Program (HRP) specifically for AHAO. Staff had referred 87 beneficiaries to American Savings Bank (ASB). Of those referred, 21 received pre-qualification letters, six families were in contract and one purchase had closed in Kona.

Eskew said the program is leveraging OHA’s $1.5 million guarantee to enable nearly $3.9 million in home purchases so far and yields roughly a 5:1 leverage ratio (every OHA dollar enabling about five dollars of mortgage lending through ASB). She described the operational flow: beneficiaries contact OHA or Beneficiary Support Agents (BSAs), HRP verification occurs, OHA issues a formal referral letter to ASB, and ASB then processes loan applications.

ASB’s loan officer…