Interest rates on mortgages increased over the summer, and lenders are still holding back on loans, but the cause of the surge in all-cash home sales is a cause for concern for the long-term health of the housing market.
A new report by RealtyTrac includes data showing that all-cash purchases accounted for 42.1 percent of all residential sales in the United States in December, up from about 20 percent at the beginning of 2013.
Julia Zhu, reporting the news of the data, quotes Daren Bloomquist, vice president, of RealtyTrac, to discuss the implications of the trend, which is described as a “red flag” for the housing market: “"It's like we put the fate of the housing market in the hands of the wealthy few…Hopefully we can see the number of cash buyers go down. That's what we need to see for long-term recovery."
Read the full story: An Astonishing Share Of Homebuyers Are Paying All Cash
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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U.S.-Iran war may have ‘devastating’ impact on cost to warm homes
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Senate bill would ‘overhaul’ environmental permitting laws
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Exemption applications for NYC’s pied-à-terre tax see 55% success rate
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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