Cash Sales Made up 40 Percent of Total Home Sales in February

From RealTrends.com: Cash sales made up 40.2 percent of total home sales in February 2014, down from 43.7 percent the previous year and 40.8 percent the previous month. Cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year-over-year basis due to the seasonal nature of the housing market, and by that measurement, the trend in cash sales is clearly down. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent. The peak occurred in January 2011, when cash transactions made up 46.2 percent of total home sales.Real-estate owned (REO) sales made up the largest portion of cash sales in February at 58.5 percent, followed by re-sales (40.2 percent), short sales (39 percent) and newly constructed homes (17 percent). While the percentage of REO sales that were cash transactions remained high, REO transactions made up only 11.5 percent of total sales in February, and, therefore, did not have a large influence on the overall cash sales share.

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