28% of San Diego Home Sales in Jan. Were Cash

Homes sold to cash buyers B>

Area	Jan. '10	Jan. '11	Peak since '88	10-yr. avg.
Los Angeles	26%	25%	26%	11%
Orange	24%	27%	27%	11%
Riverside	36%	36%	37%	17%
San Bernardino	36%	39%	39%	16%
San Diego	28%	28%	29%	13%
Ventura	23%	21%	43%	11%
Southern Calif.	30%	30%	30%	13%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Other DataQuick highlights, California

--In January, 51.9 percent of those paying cash were absentee buyers. That means the property-tax bills will be sent to different addresses, potentially signaling the deals were made by investors.

--About 52 percent of the homes bought with cash in January had been foreclosed on in the previous 18 months.

--The median price for a home bought with cash last month was $160,000, down from $175,000 in December and $164,000 one year earlier. The median home price for all homes sold throughout California last month was $239,000.

Almost three out of 10 homebuyers in San Diego County in January closed with cash, the highest it's been in 21 years, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

Company spokesman Andrew LePage said 28 percent of new and resale homes bought in the county last month had no records of mortgages, matching the percentage of cash purchases one year ago during the same time.

The figures from this year and January 2010 are second to only the peak at May 1989, when 29.1 percent of home purchases were made with cash.

LePage said the historic high is likely due to lower-than-normal home prices and investors capitalizing on less competition during the holiday season, when most buyers are scrambling for presents, not homes. DataQuick numbers, which go back to 1988, show the monthly average of cash buyers is 12.6 percent in San Diego County.

The same upward trend was reflected statewide. In January, 30.9 percent of new and resale homes sold in California were bought with cash, the peak in at least 23 years, LePage said. During the same time in 2010, that number for the state was 29.5 percent.

Much of the West, including Las Vegas and Phoenix, also showed increases in cash purchases.

However, it's important to note that the absence of recorded mortgages could mean "alternative financing arrangements" or cash buyers taking out mortgages after closing deals, LePage said.

"For the past couple of years all-cash deals have become far more common in lower-cost markets where prices have dropped sharply, luring investors and other buyers who either can't quality for a traditional mortgage, or simply view housing as a relatively attractive place to park their money," he added.

via enlacelink.com

Posted via email from RealtorPeg