WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — High mortgage rates and rising prices continued to put a damper on the spring home-buying season.

Existing home sales fell 1.9% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.14 million, from a revised 4.22 million in March, National Association of Realtors said. Sales dropped throughout the U.S., down 4% in the Northeast, 2.6% in the West, 1.6% in the South and 1% in the Midwest.

The median price of previously occupied homes rose 5.7% to $407,600, the 10th straight increase and a record for April.

The rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan has risen five of the past six weeks and stands at 7.02%, up from 6.39% a year ago. 

The supply of homes rose 9% from March, to 1.2 million. That was the fourth straight increase, but remains low: It was at 1.7 million prior to the pandemic.

Sales were brisker at the high end of the market. Homes priced at $1 million or more climbed 40% from a year ago, partly because inventory of those homes surged 34%.

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