The market for residential real estate rose modestly as buyers try to take advantage of the prices which were 15.4 percent below last year’s level.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose slightly by 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units compared to the revised rate of 4.55 million in March.

First-time homebuyers contributed to the increase in sales, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, but there a seasonal rise of repeat buyers was also reported. "Most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges and activity is beginning to pickup in the mid-price ranges, but high-end home sales remain sluggish," he said.

The median price of homes sold in April was just $170,200, a 15.4% year-over-year drop. The median home price is the threshold which divides the real estate market into two equal halves, in reference to pricing. One half of all homes in the market were sold at a price above the median home price, while the other half were sold below that price.