More People Paying Cash for Homes

New York, NY, Feb. 8, 2011 -- All-cash deals are increasing in residential real estate transactions, according to the Wall Street Journal.

These buyers are betting that prices are at or near bottom, according to the story.

For example, cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com. In 2006, they represented just 13% of deals.

The same trend is holding in other places like Phoenix, the Journal reported, where the percentage of buyers in Phoenix paying cash hit 42% in 2010—more than triple the rate in 2008.

Nationally, 28% of sales were all-cash transactions last year, double the rate of October 2008.