Dive Brief:
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Fewer homebuyers—34% of them—paid cash for their new dwellings in August 2014 than last August, a CoreLogic study revealed on Thursday.
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Year-over-year, the percentage of cash sales has fallen every month since January 2013. The August number is 12% below its 2011 peak.
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The cash share of existing home resales has fallen almost 14 percentage points since
Dive Insight:
Before the recession, cash purchases accounted for one-quarter of all home sales, according to the report, so even with year-over-year declines, the percentage of cash buyers is still higher now.
That’s not great news for would-be first-time homebuyers, who, in this economy, are having a hard time saving money for their down payments and can be muscled out of a sale by someone willing to buy the home outright. Sellers prefer cash offers because they close quickly, are at less risk of falling through and usually don’t require an appraisal.