The NAR released their report on April home sales and the results are discouraging. The question of course is how does it impact Maui real state. Here are the key findings:

Existing-home sales slowed in April, partly because restrictive lending practices hampered home buyers…Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in April from an upwardly revised pace of 4.94 million in March, and are 17.5 percent below the 5.93 million-unit level in April 2007…Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 10.5 percent to 4.55 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 11.2-month supply³ at the current sales pace, up from a 10.0-month supply in March…existing-home sales in the West rose 6.4 percent in April to a level of 1.00 million but are 15.3 percent below a year ago. The median price in the West was $285,700, which is 16..7 percent lower than April 2007.

So what does this mean for Maui real estate directly? As usual, this report's primary impact is in how it affects the mindset of mainland buyers. For more details, contact us!