The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices nationwide, fell 0.2 percent in April, compared with an annual increase of 0.7 percent the previous month. The annual decline was the first for the index since April 2012.

Compared with the previous month, the index rose 0.5 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, the third consecutive monthly increase.

The rapid rise in mortgage rates in 2022 caused a significant slowdown in home sales as buyers backed off. Home purchase affordability fell in April to its lowest level since November, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

But prices did not fall as many economists had expected, as higher mortgage rates discouraged current homeowners from selling, leaving a lower-than-normal supply of homes on the market.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.67 percent for the week ending June 22, up from 5.81 percent a year earlier.

The Case-Shiller Index, which measures repeat sales data, reports a two-month delay and reflects a three-month moving average. Homes typically go under contract a month or two before closing, so the April data is based on purchase decisions made earlier this year or late last year.

"The U.S. housing market continued to strengthen in April," said Craig Lazzara, managing director of S&P Dow Jones Indices." Home prices peak in June 2022, fall until January 2023, and then begin to recover."

The median price of an existing home fell 3.1 percent in May from a year ago to $396,100, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Case-Shiller 10-city index fell 1.2 percent in the year ending in April, compared with a 0.7 percent decline in March. the 20-city index fell 1.7 percent, compared with a 1.1 percent annual decline in March.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the 20-city index to fall 2.4 percent.

Miami had the fastest annual home price growth in the country at 5.2 percent, followed by Chicago at 4.1 percent. The weakest market was Seattle, where home prices fell 12.4 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Another measure of housing price growth released Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency also found that housing prices increased 3.1 percent in April from a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's index rose 0.7 percent in April from the previous month.