Strong buyer activity in the lower price ranges helped drive an increase in existing-home sales in April, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® (NAR). Single-family, townhome, condominium, and co-op sales increased 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $170,200, a decrease of 15.4 percent below 2008.

Existing-home sales in the Northeast region (which includes New Jersey) also rose 11.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 units, which is a decrease of 10.5 percent below 2008. The median existing-home price for all housing types in the Northeast was $237,400, which is 9.6 percent lower than a year ago. Nationally, some 455,000 first-time buyers closed transactions in the first quarter of the year, most likely due to the combination of low prices, low interest rates and the federal tax credit.

View NJAR®'s 2009 quarterly statistics report, or see the national data at REALTOR.org. You can also read 2009 NJAR® President Diane Dilzell's comments in a New Jersey 101.5 story on the April housing bounce.