2014.06.2401:22:41UTC+00US real estate looking to rise behind sales data

Purchases of previously owned homes saw a rise in popularity in May helping the US real estate market get started on its recovery after a rocky start to the year.

Today’s statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicate that the largest gain in sales since August 2011 happened last month with a positive change of 4.9% to amount to the yearly total of 4.89 million. It is forecast that related industries such as construction will benefit as well from mounting demand coming from the improving market.

Additionally, the NAR showed that increases in home prices were shifting to a more relaxed pace due to the availability of more homes. Compared to 2013, there are now 6% more previously owned houses on the market amounting to 2.28 million, the highest number in almost two years. Buyers of these houses include newcomers to the market which make up 27% of all sales, a percentage thought to be low by the NAR due to the difficulty faced by first time buyers when entering the market.

Sales went down drastically at the beginning of 2014, along with the rest of the US economy that bowed down to a severe winter season, due to hikes in mortgage rates. Despite this quarter’s bounce back performance, sales are predicted to still fall below that of 2013’s 5.09 million to end up at 4.93 million by year end reflecting the hit in the first quarter.

Together with improvements in employment across the country and the low costs of borrowing, these factors are forming the vanguard of the housing industry’s recovery with more purchases seen in the near future. Regions all over the US reported improvements in their sales figures led by the 8.7% of the Midwest.