Cash Buyers Are Taking Over Home Sales In These States
Forget traditional mortgages.
Some homebuyers are skipping the bank entirely.
Why Go All-Cash?
In a competitive housing market, putting in an all-cash offer can give buyers a significant edge.
It helps offers stand out, especially when multiple bids are on the table.
Plus, cash deals can often close much faster than transactions involving financing.
A Look at the National Picture
Buying homes without a mortgage isn’t a fringe activity.
Nationwide, all-cash purchases accounted for more than a quarter of home transactions last year.
That’s a substantial portion of the market.
Market Context
The housing market has seen shifts in recent times.
The median sale price for a home reached $438,466 as of April, according to a separate report from Redfin.
This was up slightly from the previous month and the previous year.
Inventory has also been a factor.
In April, there were over 1.9 million homes on the market on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Making Homeownership Possible
Affordability remains a key conversation point for many potential buyers.
Making the dream of owning a home achievable for more Americans is a goal that many are focused on.
Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte recently weighed in on efforts to make homeownership more accessible.
Bill Pulte explains how President Donald Trump is making home ownership affordable again on ‘Making Money.’
This suggests that various factors, including policy, can play a role in shaping the housing landscape.
Where Cash Dominates
While cash buying happens everywhere, some states see significantly more of it.
A recent analysis by New American Funding looked at 2024 home sales data from ATTOM to find where cash is king.
They compiled a list of the top states with the highest percentage of homes bought with all-cash.
And the results show some clear leaders.
The States Where Cash Rules
Here are the top 10 states with the largest share of all-cash home purchases, according to New American Funding:
- West Virginia: 41.1%
- New York: 40.4%
- Delaware: 38.9%
- Georgia: 37.5%
- Alabama: 36.7%
- South Carolina: 35.2%
- North Carolina: 34.3%
- Louisiana: 34.1%
- Maine: 33.4%
- Ohio: 31.5%
West Virginia leads the nation, with over 4 in 10 home purchases being made with cash.
New York and Delaware follow closely behind, also showing remarkably high rates of cash transactions.
These figures highlight the varying dynamics at play in local housing markets across the country, where access to liquid assets significantly impacts buying power.