RealtyTrac reports for the first three months of 2014, 43 percent of all home sales were cash deals, up 19 percent from a year ago, and the highest level since the analysis company began tracking cash sales in early 2011. Cash buyers are more attractive to sellers due to quicker turn around time than going the finance route. “Inventory shortages, as well as lending regulations favor the all-cash buyer,” said Chris Pollinger of First Team Real Estate in Southern California. In spite of a downturn in purchases by institutional investors, cnnmoney.com reports, there are individual investors and second-home buyers taking up the slack. Miami, New York, Boston and coastal California are attracting a phalanx of foreign buyers who are paying cash. As MHProNews knows, buyers paid on average $207,668 for homes in Q1 2014, 13 percent below the properties’ average estimated value. ##
