Newly released data from housing data and analytics company CoreLogic of California shows cash sales for homes in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford were down for November at 27.1 percent of total homes sold, a 6Â percentage point decrease compared with November 2014. Cash sales in the three cities were also below the national rate of 36.4 percent.
Peg Koellmer, Owner of Realty Seven Inc. in Wilton and president of the Mid-Fairfield County Association of Realtors said at first glance, the data suggest true homeowners are continuing to enter the market as it works its way through a slow turn around.
“I would say it is more on the good side,” she said. “It is not investors buying up shadow inventory ”” bank foreclosures, real estate-owned short sales ”” and we are getting actual buyers now, people who are going to live in the house.”
According to CoreLogic, the November 2015 year-over-year decrease in cash sales was the lowest in nearly three years. From January 2013 until October 2015 decreases in the cash sales share averaged 2.7 percentage points, ranging from -1.4 to -5.1 percentage points.
On a month-over-month basis, the cash sales share increased by 2.5 percentage points in November 2015 compared with October 2015.
The cash sales share typically increases month over month in November, CoreLogic said in its report, and due to seasonality in the housing market, cash sales share comparisons should primarily be made on a year-over-year basis. The elevated cash share for November was most likely related to the new federal mortgage rules that took effect in October 2015 (TRID) as some mortgage deals were delayed while the industry adjusted to the new mortgage rules.
These delays are not expected to carry forward in future months, the company said.
CoreLogic reported that the national cash sales share peaked in January 2011 when cash transactions accounted for 46.6 percent of total home sales. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent.
