It's no surprise to Lance Taketa, 31, that the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau show Hawai'i has the highest home values and rental costs in the nation.

Taketa, who works for the Bank of Hawaii, estimates he was paying up to 40 percent of his income renting a two-bedroom apartment in Mo'ili'ili with his brother, and now that he's just purchased a one-bedroom condo in Pearl City, that figure will climb to 50 percent to 60 percent.

"It's quite a big jump," he said. "I'm not sure how I'm going to do it."

Taketa said it's "super depressing" comparing housing notes with friends on the Mainland.

"When I tell them my one-bedroom place cost $209,000, they say that for the same price I could get three bedrooms with a two-car or three-car garage," he said.

"But I would rather have my little one-bedroom kingdom here than a big old house somewhere else. That's the price of paradise."

The median value for an owner-occupied piece of paradise is $560,200, according to the Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey one-year estimates released yesterday. That's $86,100 more than in the District of Columbia, which ranks second in owner-occupied unit values. The value is based on the price the homeowner would put on the property if it were for sale, and median means half the values gathered in the survey fall below the median and the other half exceed it.

Almost half of the units in Hawai'i are valued between $500,000 and $999,999, while 10 percent are valued at $1 million and up.

The national median value is $197,600, with monthly housing costs for owner-occupied units with a mortgage at $1,514, according to the survey, which is based on a sampling of the population.

The data show that Hawai'i owner-occupant mortgage holders are paying $2,265 a month in median housing costs, third-highest in the nation behind California ($2,384) and New Jersey ($2,360). Housing costs include mortgage payments, insurance, property taxes and utilities.

Nearly half of mortgage owners are spending at least 30 percent of their household income on housing costs, second only to California (53.3 percent), according to the survey.

MANY HARD-PRESSED

The census survey estimates the median household income in Hawai'i at $67,214, fifth-highest in the nation. However, the median household income for a mortgage holder is $93,195; the figure is $56,940 for those without a mortgage.

"The problem is that median and averages disguise and overshadow those at the bottom of the economic ladder who are really suffering," said Chuck Wathen, a retired developer and affordable-housing advocate who works with Housing Hawai'i and the Hawaii Housing Alliance. "There are a large number of people paying in excess of 50 percent. The lower wages are really low."

He said that to cover housing costs, families are no longer saving for college or retirement funds and are dropping their auto and health insurance, and even forgoing food in some instances.

"I'm afraid in these bad economic times, when many families are within one paycheck of becoming homeless, they are giving up the basic essentials," he said.

Home prices here are high because of the scarcity of land open to development and because intense regulation prevents builders from responding quickly to sudden demands in housing, according to Wathen. A resulting short supply of units jacks up prices.

Despite high home values and housings costs, home ownership is still within reach for many who think they can't afford it, said Dennis Oshiro of the Hawai'i HomeOwnership Center, a nonprofit group that works to increase home ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families.

"Everything is relative," he said.

The agency has helped more than 500 first-time homebuyers, including Taketa.

Oshiro said buyers are being helped by low interest rates, declining home prices, foreclosure bargains, a $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers and a down payment loan program offered by the city.

HIGHEST RENTS IN U.S.

The 2008 American Community Survey set Hawai'i's gross rent, including utilities, at $1,298 a month, highest in the United States. A little more than half of renters are spending 30 percent or more of their household income for rent and utilities, third-highest in the nation behind Florida (53.7 percent) and California (52.1 percent).

Hawai'i's high cost of housing likely is a major reason the state leads the nation in percentage of multigenerational households (7.4 percent) and percentage of housing units with one or more occupants per room (8.4 percent), although cultural attitudes that support large and extended families also are in play.

In fact, Hawai'i ranks third in the nation in average household size at 2.9 people, behind Utah and California, the survey said.

Other housing-related highlights from the 2008 American Community Survey:

• Only 59.1 percent of the state's 512,842 housing units are owner-occupied, placing the state 48th in the nation.

• 53.5 percent of the state's housing units are detached single-family homes, while 20.6 are in buildings of 20 or more units.

• 6.8 percent of homeowners have second mortgage only; 21.3 percent have a home equity loan only; fewer than 1 percent have both.

• The median owner-occupant real property tax bill in Hawai'i is $1,368; 23.4 percent pay less than $800 and 44.5 percent pay at least $1,500.

• Maui has the highest median value of an owner-occupied unit with a mortgage at $636,800, followed by O'ahu ($566,800) and the Big Island ($417,900). Kaua'i was not included in the survey because its population falls below the survey's 65,000-person cutoff.

• Monthly housing costs for owner-occupied units with a mortgage also were highest on Maui, at $2,564, with O'ahu next at $2,316 and the Big Island at $1,848.