Dive Brief:

• Sales of existing homes in the U.S. were up 1.3% in April, making it the only month so far this year in which the figure has risen.
• The April sales were at an annualized rate of 4.65 million homes, though early-year months likely will make total sales for 2014 lower than 2013, National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
• Inventory rose, too, which should help tamp down price increases along with new homes coming into the supply.

Dive Insight:

April was 340,000 homes off the pace set a year ago. The West and South had higher sales than in March, the Northeast was steady and the Midwest declined.