When the housing crisis struck, sales fell but stabilized near an annualized selling rate of about 5 million homes -- a million or two less than during the go-go years of the real estate boom.

But home sales have tumbled below that the past six months, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate for all homes, including single-family houses, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, fell to 4.49 million homes in January, representing a new low for the struggling housing market despite very affordable mortgage rates.

Although it's rebounded a little since then, the annualized selling rate was still only 4.68 million homes in April.

The median sales price for all housing types was $170,200 in April, down from $175,200 in March and 15.4% lower than in April 2008.

The Realtors blame much of that decline on the record number of foreclosure and short sales at discounted prices, and a growing number of first-time buyers who buy less-expensive homes.

First-time buyers accounted for 40% of all transactions in April, according the survey.

Here's where to find out how home prices are changing in more than 140 cities across the country.

There were 3.97 million homes on the market at the end of March, up from 3.74 million in March.

By Interest.com

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