Florida leads nation in cash-only home sales
The Florida Association of Realtors posted an interesting article yesterday about the number of sales that are cash transactions and how Florida is leading the nation in cash sales.
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=1&id=296212
Some of the more interesting statistics from the article:
Florida led the nation last month with what one expert called an “astounding” rate of all-cash home sales: 66 percent, a new report shows.
Among Florida’s metropolitan areas, Brevard County had the highest rate of cash deals: Seven out of every 10 house sales last month went for cash. Next in line was the giant metro area that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; 69 percent of all sales there were all-cash deals.
The buyers seem to be predominantly foreign buyers who view Florida condominiums and homes as a solid investment without much risk.
Much of the cash buying in South Florida is from foreigners who view condominiums as safe investments. In the past year, large funds have entered the region, buying single-family homes and renting them out for a year or longer. The Blackstone Group of New York and California-based Waypoint Homes are two of the larger funds buying in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Another interesting stat from the article, speaks about the national Private Equity firms and institutional buyers who HAD been buying up homes in droves have moved on to markets where there is more inventory to choose from and not quite as overheated market conditions.
Private-equity firms and institutional buyers have been actively picking up Florida’s lower-priced houses, fixing them up, and renting them for some time already, but those buyers are moving on to other states, RealtyTrac’s report shows. During July, institutional buyers drove 22 percent of the home sales in Georgia, 16 percent in Nevada, 15 percent in Arizona and 14 percent in Florida.
These institutional buyers made national headlines in recent months as they purchased distressed homes in bulk, renovated them and rented them out in record numbers throughout Florida.
But it seems that these institutional buyers are looking towards greener pastures. Or at least a market that’s not so competitive as Florida this year.
