WASHINGTON - U.S. sales of new homes last month registered the biggest drop in more than two years.

The Commerce Department says new-home sales skidded 11.4 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 569,000. It was the biggest monthly drop since March 2015.

Economists had expected a more modest retreat from March sales of 642,000, which were the highest since October 2007. Sales in April were still up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.

Sales fell in every region, led by a 26.3 percent plunge in the West, the biggest drop there since October 2010.

The median sales price of a new home slid 3 percent to $309,200.

There were 268,000 new homes on the market in April, the most since July 2009.