Although both new and existing home sales were down in May, it’s not all bad news. According to a new survey by Relocation.com, more Americans are positioning themselves to purchase a home in the near future.

The survey found that some families are opting to rent while they research for deals to purchase a more desirable home in their area. There’s no surefire way to determine when these sidelined homebuyers will enter the market, but the survey results were encouraging.

Of the 60 percent of individuals moving into rentals, 24 percent were previous homeowners renting temporarily while they look for a new home to purchase. Underscoring this finding is that for many of these families, foreclosure was not the reason for moving. In fact, the number of consumers who moved due to foreclosure dropped by 70

percent compared to Relocation.com’s February 2010 survey.

“While the housing market continues to flux from month to month, we’re seeing strong, continued interest as consumers looking to move start their research with us,” said Sharon Ashser, chairman and founder of New York-based Relocation.com. “These findings suggest that more Americans may be poised to re-enter the housing market this year.”

While it seems that financial and economic issues still continue to exert an effect on U.S. moving behaviors, the survey found signs that the worst of the recession crisis may be over. In the February 2010 survey, 18 percent of respondents indicated that they moved to a new location with a lower cost of living and/or cheaper rent, but this percentage dropped to 7 percent in June. Furthermore, only 4 percent of the consumers in June moved due to a job loss, a drastic drop from the 13 percent who moved for that reason in February.

When it comes to homeownership, the survey found that 18 percent of movers tracked in the June survey were homeowners who moved and purchased a new home, up from 12 percent in February. And an additional 12 percent were former renters who moved to purchase a home. The June survey also found that 4 percent of movers were able to purchase a home for the first time due to the decline in home prices, and another 10 percent moved to a bigger, better home or a better neighborhood.