Stephen Besaha

Two and a half percent of workers with retirement accounts dipped into their savings last quarter, a slight increase from a year earlier.

Stephen Basaja, NPR News.

There are some positive signs.

Contract signings for homes were up 4.5% year over year.

But signings in April are still about 9% lower than they were four years ago.

Wesley Harvey is a real estate agent in Nashville.

He says demand picked up when average mortgage rates fell below 6% in February.

But the war against Iran has set those rates back up.

Mortgage rates are now about 6.5 percent, their highest level since August.

Stephen Massaha, NPR News.