One in Three Home Buys in SoCal is Now Made All in Cash

Home purchases made completely in cold, hard cash are at their highest levels since 2011, says KPCC. Just how many sales are we talking here? One in three residences sold in California in the first quarter of 2014 was paid for all in cash, with some of the highest percentages of completely-cash sales in the wealthy communities of Beverly Hills, San Marino, and Arcadia. (In Arcadia, nearly 60 percent of sales last quarter were all-cash.) RealtyTrac estimated that in California, the majority of all-cash buyers are investors, second-time homeowners, and buyers from overseas. That's consistent with the trend: with prices going up like crazy and investors buying up everything in sight, regular people are now pretty much unable to afford to buy anything at all in SoCal. In both Arcadia and San Marino, housing prices have surpassed the highs of the housing-bubble era.
· 1 in 3 SoCal homes paid for with cash: Who's buying? [SCPR]
· Some LA 'Hoods Now Pricier Than They Were Pre-Recession [Curbed LA]
· Only Rich People Can Afford to Buy Houses in SoCal Now [Curbed LA]