IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Cash sales accounted for 22.5 percent of all home sales in the Inland Empire in August, a drop of nearly one percent year-over-year, according to data released this week.
Nationwide, 31.1 percent of all home sales in August were cash transactions, while distressed sales made up 7.3 percent and REO [real-estate owned] sales were 4.6 percent of the market, Irvine-based CoreLogic reported.
Cash sales are significant because they’re a barometer of the strength of investment buyers, meaning anyone who buys homes to sell them, not live in them. Investment buyers are often accused of driving up home prices.
Before the housing crisis of 2007-’08, cash sales were about 25 percent of all U.S. home sales. After the housing slowdown began, they increased significantly and peaked in January 2011, when they hit 46.6 percent.
At the current rate, cash sales will return to 25 percent of the U.S. housing market by mid-2019, according to CoreLogic.
