Ground-state and thermodynamic properties of the spin-1/2 two-dimensional easy-plane XXZ model are investigated by both a Green's-function approach and by Lanczos diagonalization on lattices with up to 36 sites. We calculate the spatial and temperature dependences of various spin correlation functions, as well as the wave-vector dependence of the spin susceptibility for all anisotropy parameters delta. In the easy plane ferromagnetic region (-1 < delta < 0), the longitudinal correlators of spins at distance r change sign at a nite temperature T0 (delta, r). This transition, observed in the 2D case for the first time, can be interpreted as a quantum to classical crossover.