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All-Cash Home Purchases Surge Nationwide

by | Sep 26, 2013

All-cash purchases represented a whopping 45% of all residential sales in August, according to the latest survey from RealtyTrac. This marks a considerable jump from the previous month, which saw a still-significant 39% of homes purchased in cash.

The major metro area with the highest percentage of all-cash sales was Miami (69%), followed closely by Detroit (68%) and Las Vegas (66%).

1446-Hillcrest-Ave-02

All-cash offers on luxury homes, like 1446 Hillcrest Ave. in Pasadena, are on the rise across the country.

Institutional investors who purchased 10 or more properties in the last 12 months, accounted for 10% of all sales in August, says RealtyTrac, up from 9% in July and 9% year-over-year.

A report this summer from Goldman Sachs estimated that the number of all-cash purchases nationwide was even greater, claiming that they had risen to more than 50% nationwide.

The surge follows the growing trend of billionaires turning to uber-luxury real estate as a relatively low-risk place to park cash. As The Agency’s Mauricio Umansky told FORBES this past April, “All of my clients call it a hedge against every other market. They see real estate as a hedge against inflation, against the commodities markets, and a safe haven from international political risk.”

Also notable, The RealtyTrac report shows that residential properties sold at an estimated annualized pace of 5.6 million in August, up slightly from the 5.5 million pace in July and up 12% from August 2012.

For more on the latest data from RealtyTrac, read their press release here.

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