The subprime-mortgage mess is hurting the real estate market nationwide, according to a report today from the National Association of Realtors.Existing-home sales in April fell 2.6 percent from the month before to a seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 5.99 million, the Realtors group reported. That level is down 10.7 percent from April 2006.

“We’ve been anticipating slower home sales because many subprime loan products are no longer available,” Lawrence Yun, the group’s senior economist, said in a statement. “In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community.”

Existing-home sales in California took another tumble in April as homes took longer to sell and the inventory of unsold properties ballooned, a real estate group reported today.

The drop-off in sales did not keep prices from rising, with the median sales price for existing detached homes increasing 6.2% from the same month last year to $597,640, according to the California Assn. of Realtors. (The median is the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.)

Sen. Chris Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, wants the Federal Reserve to use its rule-making authority to require that mortgage loan originators fully evaluate a borrower’s ability to make loan payments, restrict the use of low- and no-doc loans, and establish escrow accounts to make tax and insurance payments.

In a letter to Dodd, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said regulators have already strengthened the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), and that he is reluctant to draft rules that would restrict the use of loans that, while harmful for some borrowers, may be suitable for others. But Bernanke said the Fed will consider further changes to HOEPA and other rules for lenders, and has scheduled a June 14 public hearing on the issue.