The median price of homes sold in the United States during April fell for a ninth straight month, as overall sales fell by a large-than-expected amount, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday. Sales of existing homes fell by 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units-the slowest sales pace since June 2003-while the median price of a home fell to $220,900, an 0.8 percent fall the selling price a year ago, NAR said. Analysts are concerned that an excess of unsold homes will further depress prices in the coming months. The troubles in housing have acted to depress overall economic activity which slowed to a growth rate of just 1.3 percent in the first three months of this year, the slowest economic growth rate in four years.
