Usually, the desirable places to live still have higher home prices.
I recently looked into a home in Maui and it was still unreachable for me (ie...it's just easier to rent a place for a couple of weeks rather than paying upkeep, etc for a purchased property)
Investment-wise in real-estate south of the border, I'd go for Eastern Ohio. The boom in Shale Gas is expected to create about 200,000 jobs in the next few years. Another North Dakota in the making. Up to now, oil workers making at least $ 110,000 a year in ND are still sleeping in the parking lot of Wal-mart due to the lack of accommodations. Before the boom a few years ago in OH, prices were like US$ 200-300 per acre - now its about $ 2,700 minimum. With 17% royalties. The oil companies has leased most of the hotels for their workers. Zoning doesn't allow man camps unlike Dakota. :nod:
This is why Obama is leading Romney in swing state Ohio. ( JOBS ) No Republican became President of the United States in the past without winning Ohio.
What is good for Ohio or North Dakota is not good for BC though. With more shale supply that means less US demand for natural gas coming from BC. The US might even export it in a few years. Look at the budget of the Liberal Party for BC in the coming years. Annual cuts of CDN$ 200 Million to CDN$ 400 Million. The scapegoat = Natural GAS.
there is lots written about Canadians owning property south of the border and the complications of it, PERB is not a good reference resource, and you can be misled. This item needs a lot of attention from some one who knows the taxes, and US tax law, as well as US rules. It is a sticky country, and filled with rules and regulations.