Hawaii Residents "Trading Off" Lifestyles for Homes

The Housing Bubble 2 examines a report at MSNBC that Hawaii residents are "trading off" lifestyles for expensive homes:

"Mortgage payments are eating up a bigger share of many household budgets in Hawaii. Families on Oahu, for example, are expected this year to spend nearly half of their monthly salaries on mortgages because of higher housing costs, the highest level since the early 1990s."

"Most banks say families should ideally spend 25 to 30 percent of their gross income on home payments. 'Mortgage payments across the state are running at 42 to 44 percent of monthly salaries,' said Steve Higa, president-elect of the Hawaii Association of Mortgage Brokers. 'People are managing because they don't spend much on anything else.'"

Check out the revealing comments as well.