Andrew Lambden of Ontario fell in love with Hawaii 20 years ago, but it took a favorable exchange rate to entice him to buy four acres in Kealanani, a luxury development on the northeastern shore of Kauai.

Canadian snowbirds are known to travel long distances in search of warmer climes, but in the past the expense of getting to Hawaii and the high cost of its real estate had deterred both tourism and property purchases.

Home sales may be falling but condominium prices are going up despite less sales at least on the vacation paradise island of Kauai.

There the median price of a condo increased 30.3 percent over sales last year in august rising from $452,000 to $589,000.

Sales were less with just 23 units being sold compared to the 33 units sold in August in 2006.

Overall condominium prices for the year were up 43.3 percent rising from $389,000 to $557,500.

Kauai is the land of dreams, beautiful beaches, lights dancing on the deep blue ocean waters and sunsets so exquisite they take your breath away. It is a place that people come to from all over the world for a romantic Kauai vacation, it is also the reason the land has become so expensive and housing is only affordable to a few.

A new study designed to access the health of the Kauai community and how it has changed in recent years says that inspite of unemployment falling, locals are not able to keep up with the rise in expense and the poverty rate on the island has risen 1.3 percent from 2000 to 2005.

Beneath spectacular rainbows, overlooking craggy cliffs, and lying under swaying palm trees is some of the most prime real estate in the world, that on the island of Kauai.

Many of Kauai’s vacationers come to partake in the true ethnic feel of Hawaii on this still pristine island and it is also for that reason that so many decide to have Kauai be their second-home of choice.

Over 20 percent of homes on Kauai are bought by second-home buyers who come to love the island life and want to have a piece of this sanctuary for themselves.

Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of Red Hot Chile Peppers and Joseph Brescia are neighbors in California and wish to be neighbors in Kauai. The lots they wish to build houses on have a required minimum distance of 60 feet distance from the shoreline in order to meet legislative coding for Kauai. Brescia and Kiedis however want to build them 40 feet from shoreline and thus have been fighting the Kauai home restrictions since 2001. But it would seem more than just the restrictions are in place to stop the new neighbors from building there is also the matter of human remains.

If you think housing is expensive on the mainland of the United States it is nothing compared to housing on the beautiful tropical island of Kauai. There an affordable housing project has just been completed, with the last of the 56 units being delivered to their new owners tomorrow.

The Hookena housing project offers five different models of houses for the new owners beginning in the mid $200,000s to the low $300,000s. They range in size from 750 square feet to 1390 square feet, not large by any means.

If you’re looking to buy a home on the incredibly beautiful island Kauai, now may be a very good time as the median price of homes has gone down 26.4 percent, based on sales made in May from last year, when the median price was $775,000. The same number of houses was sold this May, as last May, with 39 homes selling.

Debra Blachowiak, principal broker of Sleeping Giant Sotheby’s on Kauai, says that it is going down due partially to the high number of houses being built. She says, “I think it’s been going down for over a year and last month reflected on it. There’s so much inventory coming on, affecting the general trend.”

Tomorrow, the Kauai County Charter Amendment will go before the Supreme Court. The Charter was previously passed in 2004, with a 2-1 margin by voters of Kauai, however it was then ruled unconstitutional by Judge George Masuoka.

The Charter would have capped property taxes for homeowners who had purchased their homes before 1998, at the amount in 1998. Homes purchased after 1998 would have been kept to a two percent increase.

Judge Masuoka made the ruling, stating that according to the state constitution, voters can not authorize or repeal taxes, only the County Council has sole authority to amend or repeal the taxes.

“The trick is getting people to believe they can own a home,” said Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste. “They believe it’s an impossible dream.”

It is no longer an impossible dream on Hawaii’s Kauai Island, as hundreds of affordable housing units are currently being built and more is set to be built, by the county in the next few years. Mayor Baptiste is asking for anyone looking or wishing to buy a house, to show up at housing fairs which will be held on Saturdays in March.

Contracts are being written and buyers are looking says, Debra Blachowiak, principal broker of Sleeping Giant Sotheby’s. This being said after a slow start to the year, has changed to rising prices on both Kauai and the Big Island.

Kauai even set a record for the median home price, rising to $850,000. This was up from a December median home price of $605,000. Numbers were slightly skewed, however as only 33 homes were sold for the month of January. This means that the unusually high medium price was probably the result of a few large sales. Still the median price of homes in December was up from last year, rising from $470,000 to $605,000 a six percent increase.