In a sign of continuing sales woes for the housing industry, existing-home sales rose marginally over the month in April but remained unchanged from year-ago levels during the second full month of the ongoing war in Iran.

At an annual rate of about 4.02 million units last month, transaction volumes were 0.2% above March totals while falling below April 2024 and April 2023 levels, according to sales data published Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

“Despite mixed macroeconomic signals — including a record-high stock market and historically low consumer confidence — home sales were modestly boosted by the continued improvement in housing affordability,” noted NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, striking an optimistic tone in a statement accompanying the sales data.

“Mortgage rates are lower from a year ago, and average income growth is outpacing home price gains,” Yun added.

But purchase mortgage affordability has worsened over the past two months as mortgage rates have shot upward in recent weeks, despite being lower than year-ago levels. Freddie Mac data shows average mortgage rates for typical 30-year home loans were 6.33% in April, up from 6.18% in March. The 30-year rate averaged 6.73% in April 2025.

Annual existing-home sales have hovered near 30-year lows of around 4 million units for three consecutive years. So far, the all-important spring sales season in 2026 has unfolded at the same sluggish pace.

The surge in mortgage rates since the start of the Iran war in late February has coincided with deepening gloom among consumers. In April, the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index fell to its lowest level since the survey began in 1952.

Sales declined in the Northeast and Midwest in April by 8.2% and 1% each, NAR reported, following respective annual declines of 12.2% and 3.2% in March. Sales were 2.7% higher than a year ago in the South and unchanged in the West. On a monthly basis, sales were flat in the Northeast, 2.2% higher in the Midwest, up 0.5% in the South and 2.6% lower in the West.

Compared to a 1.4% annual increase in March, median existing-home sales prices were 0.9% higher over the year at $417,700 in April as structural housing shortages keep home prices broadly elevated.

The share of all-cash transactions among total existing-home sales declined to 25% in April from 27% in March and 31% in February. First-time homebuyer share increased to 33% last month from 32% in March. April closings spent a median of 32 days on the market, down from 41 days in March but up from 29 days a year ago.

For-sale inventory grew to 1.47 million units in April, up 5.8% from March and 4.1% from a year ago. That pushed the months’ supply of unsold homes to 4.4, a measure that reflects how long it would take to exhaust the current inventory of homes at a given sales pace.