Sales of homes across 33 states in the United States have declined in the first three months of 2007, a leading real estate trade group said on Tuesday. The National Association of Realtors said that while most metro regions experienced price increases, the overall housing sector appeared to be slowing. Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California were among the top six states to see a sales pace decline in the first three months of the year compared to that period in 2006. Hawaii and Louisiana were also among those six. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia showed an increase in the sales pace from a year ago while one state was unchanged, the NAR report said. Those states that benefited most from the recent housing boom were the worst hit by a sales decline, according to the quarterly survey. While the data was mixed, it was seen as an overall positive for the housing sector, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist
