First-time home buyers and investors snapped up low-priced properties last month. But the National Association of Realtors says the added interest wasn't enough to boost sales of previously owned homes in the South.
April's slide was significant because it follows an 8 percent annual drop in March. Low mortgage rates and the economic stimulus package have not been enough to offset job losses and other economic worries.
Meanwhile, discounted foreclosures sales kept pushing down prices in much of the South. That's where the Realtors say the median sales price slid almost 13 percent to $148,000. Nationally, April sales of existing homes declined 4.6 percent year-over-year, without adjusting for seasonal factors, while median sales prices fell more than 15 percent to $170,200.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth, the AP-Re/Max report shows April sales dropped 29 percent year-over-year while median sales prices fell a modest 5 percent to $142,000.
