According to the data released by the American Association of Real Estate Agents on Monday,the sales index of signed pending houses in the United States in January increased by 8.1%to 82.5 compared with the previous month,the largest increase since June 2020.This may be an exception,as the lower mortgage rate in January helped support demand.

Although high borrowing costs continue to pose a challenge to the real estate industry in the United States,the decline in mortgage interest rates last month boosted the rebound in demand for housing.The price reduction has also become more and more common,helping to improve the affordability of buyers.

The mortgage interest rate has begun to rise,and the Federal Reserve intends to further increase the interest rate,so it is not clear when the real estate market will really improve.

Lawrence Yun,chief economist of the American Association of Real Estate Agents,said in a statement:”Housing sales activity seems to have bottomed out in the first quarter of this year,and may improve further after that.”

In January,the number of contracts signed in all four regions increased,with the increase of more than 10%in the western region.Yun pointed out:”Because of the decline in house prices,the growth rate in the western region of the United States is greater,while the rise in the southern region is due to the strong employment growth.”

Another data released last week showed that the sales of second-hand houses in the United States fell for the 12th consecutive month in January,continuing a record decline.Nevertheless,the decline rate of monthly sales has slowed down.