KAILUA-KONA - Gov. Linda Lingle called it "the issue that brought us together'" in her State of the State address last month.

The Legislature, responded by introducing fistfuls of bills. Big Is- land Mayor Harry Kim identified it as a top priority three years ago and county leaders on the Neighbor Islands are using the word "crisis."

"Affordable housing is always an issue," said Edwin Taira, Hawaii County Housing administrator. "It just depends on how high (a priority) it is" and right now it's very high."

On Kauai and the Big Island, the median prices of single family homes have jumped more than 50 percent in the last year- to $575,000 on Kauai and $352,750 on the Big Island. Oahu's median price is more than $500.000 and Maui’s tops $600,000.

In June, the Kauai County County Council termed the Garden Isle's housing crunch a crisis, urging developers to build more for residents and resort employees, and provide more land for their construction.

The Big Island mayor also is looking to the private sector for help with this "major, major problem."

Pete Hoffmann, a Hawaii County Councilman and chairman of the County Housing Agency, said he is determined to find affordable solutions for the Big Island, which the county defines as a home costing $214,000 for a family of four with an annual income of $51,000.

Hoffmann, who noted that he could not afford today the Waikoloa home he bought eight years ago, said it's the only issue on which he wants regular progress, reports from his constituents.

The Hawaii County Council last month tightened its affordable housing policy, doubling to 20 percent the amount of units a developer must build at an affordable or lower cost.

The new policy also requires those units be built within 15 miles of the proposed development and hikes the in-lieu fees - money paid to the county in lieu of building affordable units - if a developer chooses not to meet that requirement.

Already several projects are in the works to put more homes on the market for middle-class buyers.

Hawaii County is leading the way by kick-starting development of 268 acres in Waikoloa that was handed to the county in 1988 by Transcontinental Development Co. to meet the housing requirement of Waikoloa Beach Resort.

A master developer for the new project is to be chosen this month, Taira said, although construction of the 800 to 1,200 affordable units likely won't begin for another year.

At least one company on the Big Island is following the county's lead. Westpro Holdings is set to build factory-assembled steel tract houses on 30 lots at Discovery Harbor near South Point.

Sections of the modular homes will be constructed at a new $2.5 million factory near Honokohau Harbor and trucked to the development, said Westpro Holdings President Alan Dickler.

Each three-bedroom, two-bath- room home will be complete in about 60 days and cost $320,000.

"It's not answering all the questions," Dickler said, noting housing solutions also must address land and infrastructure issues.

"You need cooperation from everybody," he said.

The company was the first in more than a decade to build lower-cost housing into its project rather than pay the county's in-lieu fees, he said.

Another project, Lohaki Makai between Kailua-Kona and Kona International Airport, includes 19 affordable housing units. And still another already is lined up - 100 low-rise condominiums at the 10- acre Seascape development inland from the airport will sell for about $250,000, or about $200,000 less than the average condo price in West Hawaii.