Existing Home Sales Fall 0.8%

Existing home sales fell 0.8% in April, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

The drop to an annual rate of 5.05 million homes was below economists’ forecasts of an increase to 5.2 million, Bloomberg reported.

February’s 4.88 million rate had been the lowest since 2002.

The median price of existing homes fell 5% from a year ago, to $163,700.

Sales rose in three of four national regions, led by a 7.5% drop in the Northeast.