Miami-Dade falls out of top five for cash home sales in U.S.

Share of cash sales by state (Credit: CoreLogic)
Share of cash sales by state (Credit: CoreLogic)

Miami-Dade County, once the nation’s reigning champ for all-equity homebuyers, dropped out of the top five during April.

According to a new report from CoreLogic, 49.6 percent of all Miami-Dade home sales during April were done with cash. Compared to the same month last year, the county’s rate fell by 7.8 percentage points.

While still much higher than the national average of 31.6 percent, April marked the first month since the housing crash that the county’s share of cash deals have fallen below half.

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April’s declining rate also continued a now years-long trend of falling cash deals in Miami-Dade. At one point the area boasted that more than 60 percent of its housing deals were done without a mortgage.

The trend can, in part, be explained a couple of ways: historically low mortgage rates — FreddieMac pegged them at 3.57 percent for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage during June — have made financing a home purchase more attractive in the last year. And distressed properties, which are predominantly purchased with cash, are quickly being depleted in Miami-Dade. A separate CoreLogic report recently pegged the county’s foreclosure rate at just 2.7 percent.

In Miami’s place, a new cash king has arisen. Philadelphia boasted a cash sales ratio of 57.9 percent during April, followed by West Palm Beach with 54.4 percent, Fort Meyers with 51.7 percent and Sarasota with 51.6 percent. — Sean Stewart-Muniz