Furthermore, the median home price for all types of housing dropped 12.4 percent in the past 12 months to $175,200. The median home price for a single-family home plunged 11.5 percent to $174,900.

First-time home buyers accounted for 53 percent of transactions according to NAR and it is believed that the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyer has contributed to the share of first time home buyers.

The results were “a little disappointing” given that homes are more affordable than they’ve been in years and mortgage rates are near record lows, said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Nonetheless, buyer traffic has been rising, and real estate agents are getting phone inquires about the tax credit and it is expected that the impact of record low mortgage interest rates in addition to the stimulus provisions would be felt early summer, he added.

The median sales price in March was $175,200, a plunged of 12.4 percent compared to last year but higher than February’s $168,200. While median sales prices usually increase in early spring, the 4 percent monthly increase was larger than expected.

Existing home sales indicated strong sales recovery in western cities  where prices have dropped the most. He said the rest of the country could start to see improvement in sales by early summer.

Foreclosures and distressed sales are dominating the market as unemployment swells and mortgage crisis continues. This is highly observed in the following sates namely: California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.