Cash deals accounted for 28.9% of all Southern California home sales in January; the highest level in the 22 years !

  • All-cash transactions accounted for an average of 13.9% of all home purchases since 1988, DataQuick reported.
  • Such transactions trended upward in recent months, however, due to the continued impact of the credit crisis and competition among homebuyers for lower-priced homes.
  • In addition, home sellers tend to prefer all-cash deals to avoid the risk that a lender’s appraisal will kill the sale by coming in lower than the purchase price.
  • DataQuick tracks the number of buyers who appear to be paying cash for a home by counting the number of transactions in which there are no records of a purchase loan.
  • DataQuick reported also that home flipping trended higher in January, when 3.5% of the homes sold had been through a prior transaction within the previous six months.
  • Regionwide, median home prices were $271,500, up 8.6% last month from the year before but down 6.1% from December.
  • Southern California recorded 15,361 home sales , up 0.9% from the year before but down 31.2% from the previous month.