In today's Wall Street Journal

Home builders, worried about subprime loan problems and rising mortgage rates, are losing their confidence, which has dropped to the lowest level in 16 years, a new report said Monday…"It's clear that the crisis in the subprime sector has prompted tighter lending standards in much of the mortgage market, and interest rates on prime-quality home mortgages have moved up considerably during the past month along with long-term Treasury rates," NAHB chief economist David Seiders said.Mr. Seiders predicts home sales will erode in the months ahead and that improvements in housing starts probably won't be recorded until early next year. "As a result, we expect housing to exert a drag on economic growth during the balance of 2007," he said.

These sorts of issue have only a very limited direct impact on Maui, especially in the high-end resort areas and most especially along the oceanfront. However, these sorts of reports coming from industry "insiders" certainly impacts the psychology of Maui buyers coming from the mainland and therefore of the Maui market. Buyers continue to feel very powerful and remain very picky. The best values in a given property category continue to get a great deal of attention. The rest? They continue to receive little interest. If you are considering marketing your Maui property our advice is to consider this when selecting a listing price.