As the rest of the country remains seized in a credit death grip, the Waikiki upscale condo market appears to be chugging along nicely. Here's news that the latest Waikiki luxe high-rise, the Allure, just got a cool $170 million in financing. I'll have my Mai Tai neat, por favor. At any rate, Waikiki is probably getting strong support from the battered dollar as a stronger-yen and Euro have encouraged international buyers. Further, a luxe condo in Waikiki is actually pretty reasonable in comparison to NYC or SF. Witness the new Trump building rising in a better location than the Allure, a block from the beach. The Donald's new monolith started at $500,000 for a studio -- hardly cheap but hardly pricey compared to the hovelesque one-bedrooms in the far reaches of Manhattan that such a tidy sum could cover.

—Alex, 12/20/07