LOS ANGELES (AP) — The latest evidence that homeownership is becoming increasingly less accessible to many Americans: Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to a nearly 30-year low for the second time in as many years.

Elevated mortgage rates, a yearslong shortage of homes on the market and record-high home prices continued to stymie prospective home shoppers, especially first-time buyers.

That led existing home sales to fall 0.7% last year to 4.06 million — the weakest showing for home sales since 1995 and edging out the terrible year for sales in 2023, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Even in the midst of a sales slump, a dearth of homes on the market and rising mortgage rates gave sellers an edge over buyers, helping drive up the national median home price for all of last year to an all-time high $407,500, an increase of 4.7% from a year earlier.

“How is it possible that home sales can be this low, considering that the U.S. population has increased by more than 70 million over this time period from 1995 to today?” asked Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “One can partly answer that question because of the affordability issue. Record-high home prices, mortgage rates having risen, but also lack of inventory.”

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of nearly 8% in October 2023 and briefly fell to a 2-year low last September, but has been mostly hovering around 7%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.