All-cash buyers accounted for a whopping 42 percent of the nearly 500,000 U.S. home purchases in November, according to the latest housing report from RealtyTrac. That figure is the highest seen since RealtyTrac began tracking all-cash purchases in 2011.
Institutional investors accounted for nearly 40 percent of home buys in November , the RealtyTrac data show, also close to the all-time high of just above 40 percent seen at the end of 2012.
The numbers showcase the rising confidence in the housing market, according to Time, but also mean that first-time home buyers may have a hard time pulling off a purchase in the face of stiff competition from these cash-rich investors. [Time] – Hiten Samtani