Home sales fell again in April after high mortgage rates damped activity

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Home sales fell in April for the second straight month, as high mortgage rates and near-record home prices continue to stall the market during the prime selling season.

Sales of previously owned homes decreased 1.9% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.14 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. 

The decline last month came as a surprise to housing analysts. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimated sales of previously owned homes rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in April from March.

Existing home sales declined in April as elevated mortgage rates and high home prices hurt demand. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

But high mortgage rates are keeping a lid on the spring season, typically the busiest time of year in the housing market. In March, existing-home sales posted their biggest monthly decline in more than a year. 

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The low inventory of homes for sale is also thwarting buyers, because high rates have prompted many homeowners to stay put. At the current sales pace, there was a 3.5-month supply of homes on the market at the end of April, below the four to six months’ supply that is generally considered a market balanced between buyers and sellers.

That shortage is pushing prices higher. The national median existing-home price rose 5.7% in April from a year earlier to $407,600, NAR said. That was the highest price for any April data going back to 1999 and approaching