In another sign that the economy may be picking up, sales of existing homes increased last month, though the median price of homes continued to decline, the National Association of Realtors reported today.
Existing home sales increased 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units. April's numbers were 3.5% below April 2008.
The median price for an existing home last month was $175,200, a 15.4% drop from April 2008.
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported today that the Housing Price Index fell 0.5% in the first quarter, compared with a 3.3% decline during the fourth quarter of 2008.
Total housing inventory was up 8.8% to 3.97 million existing home sales at the end of April.
"Most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges and activity is beginning to pick up in the midprice ranges, but high-end home sales remain sluggish," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.8% in April, compared to 5.0% in March.
Last month, existing home sales increased in the Northeast, South and West by 11.5%, 1.8% and 3.5%, respectively. They declined 2% in the Midwest.
Compared to April 2008, sales increased 19.4% in the West but declined in the Northeast, Midwest and South by 10.5%, 9.9% and 8.9%, respectively.
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