New York state had the third highest ratio of all-cash home purchases in the second quarter of 2014.
With 48.8 percent of transactions closing in cash, the Empire State came in just behind Michigan and slightly ahead of Nevada, according to RealtyTrac report cited by the Atlantic’s CityLab. Florida was number one on the all-cash front with a whopping 57.9 percent of purchases closing sans mortgage.
The New York City metro area was also one of the six urban areas where about half of the deals for new single-family homes and condos were transacted in cash alone, according to the report. The others were Las Vegas, Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
The percentage of all-cash U.S. home sales fell from 40 percent of all transactions in the first quarter, but the deals are still locking out a significant portion of middle-class house hunters who require mortgages, according to CityLab. [CityLab] — Tom DiChristopher