Will CASH continue to be a BIG PART of our REAL ESTATE MARKET?
Since January, 21% of single family home sales across the Midlands of South Carolina were purchased with cash. Of course cash buyers have always been present; however, not too long ago, we could say that a large majority of buyers used a loan to purchase a home.
There are two main reasons that we’ve seen an increase in the number of homes purchased with cash
Buyers had to compete and were using their cash reserves, pulling from their retirement or borrowing cash from someone so they could compete in a market where buyers had to go way above and beyond to get a contract.
We’ve seen a huge increase in the amount of private money and investment groups coming to the area because the Midlands of South Carolina is one of the most affordable areas in the country. These groups are buying up large amounts of real estate to either flip or rent.
Will this continue? I believe we will see a slight decrease in the percentage of cash sales as we return to a more normal real estate market because there is less buyer competition. However, investment groups across the Midlands continue to bid on properties. I prefer a traditional buyer over these large groups, however the action they are taking in our market is a good sign that real estate will continue to be strong in our area. Some of the largest groups buying in our market have big teams of experts and analysts behind them projecting what is going to happen in the future.