NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes slowed in April, while inventory soared according to the latest reading of the sagging housing market by an industry trade group released Friday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners dipped in April to an annual pace of 4.89 million, down 1% from the revised March reading of 4.94 million.
The existing home sales rate - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - is 17.5% below the 5.93 million units sold in April 2007.
The 4.89 million sales figure came in slightly ahead of the 4.85 million annual pace of home sales that was expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The median price of a home sold during the month fell 8% from a year ago to $202,300, down from $219,900. Prices are being pushed down by the growing number of existing homes on the market.
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 10.5% to 4.55 million homes available for sale, which represents an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 10.0-month supply in March.
Before the start of the current housing slump, it had been 11 years since prices had fallen compared to a year earlier.
"Some markets like San Diego, Calif., and Fort Myers, Fla., are experiencing rising sales after sudden double-digit drops in local home prices, so lower prices and low interest rates are starting to generate results," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist in a report.
Single-family home sales slipped 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.34 million in April from 4.36 million in March, which is 16.1% below the 5.17 million-unit level from one year ago.
The median existing single-family home price was $200,700 in April, down 8.5% from April 2007.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West actually rose 6.4% in April from March to a level of 1 million, propping up the national average. However, even though sales in the West were up, they are still 15.3% below a year ago. The median price in the West was $285,700, which is 16.7% lower than April 2007.
Sales in the Northeast fell 4.4% to an annual pace of 870,000 in April, 14.7% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $262,000, which is 7.7% below April 2007.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales were at an annual rate of 1.1 million in April, which is 6.0% below March and 19.7% lower than April 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $159,100, down 2.9% from April 2007. See Also
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