All-Cash Sales Accounted for 32.6% of Home Purchases in 2024

Seattle, WA, February 18, 2025-Just under one-third (32.6%) of U.S. home purchases were made in cash in 2024, down from 35.1% the year before and the lowest share since 2021, according to a new report from Redfin. Still, all-cash sales made up a bigger piece of the homebuying pie than before the pandemic, when the share ranged from 25% to 30%.

Redfin’s report is based on its analysis of county-level home purchase records across 40 of the most populous U.S. metropolitan areas going back through 2014. Redfin defines an all-cash purchase as a home purchase with no mortgage loan information on the deed.

One reason the share of cash purchases fell was because investors-who make up a significant proportion of all-cash buyers-bought fewer homes than they did during the past few years.

“The rate of all-cash sales remains high because when housing is expensive-like it is now-wealthier Americans who can afford to pay cash are more likely than lower-income Americans to be buying homes,” said Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “We are unlikely to see the share of all-cash purchases fall much lower in 2025, unless mortgage rates drop enough to drive a significant increase in sales.”

The number of all-cash home sales dropped to its lowest level in at least a decade in 2024 as total home sales fell to historic lows.