According to the National Association of Realtors, after a slow February, existing home sales increased 3.7% in March (but were down 6.3% from March a year ago). Nationally home sales has shown a huge increase in buyers who are paying with all cash.
A large percentage of the cash sales were to investors. Although many investors are taking advantage of the opportunities available in the housing market right now, a portion of these sales to investors will be coming back into the market at some point. These homes will likely be flips and will add more inventory to the market down the road.
While the housing market is working to recover on a national level, many outside factors play into home sales stats:
- Rising gas prices
- The national deficit (and prospect of further budget cuts)
- Proposals to further restrict mortgage lending
These are all things that could trip up a full housing recovery – or continue to prolong it. Real estate is local and as such, some markets are doing well while others aren’t.
The fact that there are so many cash deals happening right now tells us that investors still have confidence in Real Estate…. and I can show you why you should too.
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