Cash Sales Share Down to One-Third in June

The all-cash share of home sales dropped in June to its lowest level since the start of the financial crisis, CoreLogic reported Tuesday.

In a post for the company's Insights Blog, senior economist Molly Boesel revealed that cash sales accounted for 33 percent of total transactions in June, down from 36.3 percent a year ago and the lowest share since September 2008.

Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged around 25 percent, according to Boesel. The peak for cash sales hit in January 2011, when they made up 46.2 percent of total sales activity.

Cash sales share has fallen on an annual basis for each month since January 2013, Boesel said.

Breaking the data down by states, Florida had the largest share of all-cash activity at 50.9 percent. With its relatively low home prices and attractive vacation locales, the Sunshine State remains one of the biggest draws for both domestic and international investors.

Also ranking high in cash sales share in June were Alabama (48.1 percent), New York (44.6 percent), Kentucky (40.1 percent), and Nevada (40 percent).

Florida was also home to most of the biggest core-based statistical areas for cash sales, with Cape Coral-Fort Myers leading all others with a share of 61.2 percent. It was followed by West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach (60.6 percent); North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton (59.8 percent); Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall (58.7 percent); Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach (58.5 percent).

By transaction type, REO sales had the largest cash sales share at 55.3 percent, followed by re-sales, short sales, and new home sales.

"While the percentage of REO sales that were cash transactions remained high, REO transactions made up only 7.2 percent of total sales in June and, therefore, did not have a large influence on the overall cash sales share," Boesel said.