All-Cash Transactions Continue to Drive Home Sales

Despite ongoing affordability challenges in the housing market, cash continues to drive home purchases. According to a recent report from real estate marketing platform Realtor.com, one-third, or approximately 32.8% of homes sold in the first half of 2025 were paid for in all cash. While this share is 0.6% below the first half of 2024, it is still higher than pre-pandemic levels, when the share of all-cash purchases averaged 28.6%.

Cash buyers are most active at both the lowest and highest ends of the housing market. About two-thirds of homes sold for under $100,000 were bought with cash, as were over 40% of homes priced above $1 million. However, most home sales overall fall within the midrange price brackets. Homes priced between $200,000 and $750,000 made up 62.5% of all transactions in the first half of 2025, keeping the overall share of cash purchases much lower than what’s seen at either end of the price spectrum.

Specific parts of the country also tend to see more home sales purchased with all cash than others.

In the first half of 2025, Mississippi (49.6%), New Mexico (48.8%), Montana (46.0%), Idaho (45.0%), Hawaii (44.9%), and Maine (44.4%) had the highest cash shares. Mississippi is a low-cost market where modest savings or equity from a prior sale can cover a purchase outright. Limited credit access in some rural areas also encourages cash deals, and small-scale investors are active. Hawaii and Maine, by contrast, are high-cost, lifestyle-driven markets dominated by affluent out-of-state buyers and second-home purchasers who often pay in cash. Hawaii and Maine also rank first and fifth, respectively, in terms of median homeowner age, suggesting that buyers may have more home equity built up than other states with younger populations. Idaho and Montana have seen growing popularity with out-of-state buyers, which can drive cash purchases higher.