Despite economic headwinds, the number of all-cash buyers has increased, according to a recent member survey from the National Association of Home Builders. In 2024, the median builder sold 22% of its homes to buyers who used all cash to pay for them. A majority of these sales come from custom builds, with 54% of those surveyed being single-family custom home builders.
The percentage of all-cash sales is interesting, in part because it may indicate the availability of mortgage credit. Recently, the percentage has fluctuated directly with interest rates—especially the Federal Reserve’s target federal funds rate. This was discussed in detail in an earlier post on the Census Bureau’s quarterly “New Houses Sold by Price and Financing” release. Briefly, the Census release shows the share of all-cash sales increasing substantially since the Fed began tightening in 2022, reaching a peak of 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 before declining to 6.6% in early 2024.
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