In May, existing home sales in the United States hit a new high for the year, with first-time buyers returning at an accelerated pace. Signs of a recovery in the real estate market are emerging.

The data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday showed that existing home sales in the United States increased by 3.2% in May compared to the previous month, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units, reaching the fastest sales pace so far this year, exceeding the expectations of all economists surveyed by the media. This is another positive signal in the U.S. housing market after several years of downturn. Over the past three years, existing home sales in the United States have been hovering around 4 million units annually, with high interest rates and continuous price increases suppressing housing demand. The latest data shows that the market is gradually heating up. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said, "More and more Americans are re-entering the real estate market, with existing home sales in May reaching the highest level since December last year. This is a positive sign for the real estate market and the overall economy." Last week, the real estate website Realtor.com stated that sellers are "getting closer to buyers" by adjusting pricing strategies to increase sales. Although mortgage interest rates in the United States have risen back to above 6.5% in the past few months, the overall level is still lower than the same period last year. Yun believes that financing costs have improved compared to last year, providing support for the recovery of housing demand. "If mortgage interest rates can further drop to around 6%, we have reason to believe that housing sales will continue to grow." However, he also pointed out that fluctuations in international oil prices and potential inflation pressures may still affect future interest rate trends, so the market still needs to remain vigilant. In terms of prices, U.S. home prices continue to rise modestly. Data shows that the median price of existing home sales in May increased by 1.3% year-on-year, reaching $429,300, a new high for the same period. At the same time, the market supply situation has also improved. By the end of May, there were 1.55 million homes for sale in the U.S., slightly higher than the same period last year, reaching the highest level since July last year. Calculated at the current sales rate, the market inventory is equivalent to a 4.5-month supply, higher than previous levels. In terms of regional performance, sales in the Southern, Northeastern, and Midwestern regions of the United States all saw growth, while sales in the Western region remained basically unchanged from the previous month. Among them, the performance of the Midwestern market was particularly outstanding, with an annualized rate of 1 million units, the highest level since April 2023. It is worth noting that first-time homebuyers are returning to the market. Data shows that first-time homebuyers accounted for 35% of total transactions in May, the highest percentage since June 2020. At the same time, the proportion of investors in the market has decreased. The return of first-time homebuyers is generally seen as an important signal of improving market health, indicating that owner-occupied demand is gradually replacing investment demand, driving the market towards a more sustainable development stage. Overall, against the backdrop of a slight drop in mortgage rates compared to last year, a gradual increase in inventory, and a trend towards more flexible pricing strategies for sellers, the U.S. real estate market is showing signs of recovery. However, with significant uncertainty remaining in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, whether the housing market can continue to warm up will depend on further validation from data in the coming months.