All-Cash Purchases = 45% of Home Sales

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IRVINE, CA-The percentage of total US home purchases that were all-cash transactions rose to 45% in August from July's figure of 39%, up 15% from a year ago, reports RealtyTrac. Among metro areas with a population of 1 million or more, Las Vegas was the Western market listed as having the third-highest percentage of all-cash sales at 66%.

As GlobeSt.com reported earlier today, sales volume and median prices for US homes is continuing to increase in most markets, and short sales and bank-owned sales combined account for one in four sales, according to RealtyTrac. US residential properties, including single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes, sold at an estimated annualized pace of 5.6 million in August, up 2% from the 5.5 million pace in July and up 12% from the 5 million pace in August 2012.

In addition, institutional investors—those who purchased 10 or more properties in the last 12 months—accounted for 10% of all sales in August, up from 9% in July and 9% in August 2012, the firm reports. Among metro areas with a population of 1 million or more, those with the highest percentage of institutional-investor purchases were Memphis; Jacksonville, FL; Atlanta; St. Louis; and Detroit.

“The rise in cash sales in the San Francisco market is due to the overall health of the Northern California economy,” says Gretchen Pearson, president of Prudential California Realty, San Ramon. “Investors and homebuyers are making cash purchases to be competitive in the buying process and to circumvent the hassles and extra costs of financing. We're seeing a normalizing of the market as home price appreciation continues to increase.”

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