In today’s housing market, many buyers are using cash offers to beat the competition, score price discounts, and close quickly.
Cash sales made up about 27% of all home purchases in 2024, according to a New American Funding (NAF) analysis of ATTOM real estate data.
These types of sales were most common along the East Coast and in the South, according to the analysis. Last year, the highest percentage of cash home purchases were in more affordable West Virginia, followed by pricier New York and Delaware.
Sellers often prefer cash offers as they believe these deals are less likely to fall through and sales often close quickly.
“In some markets, buyers paying in cash don’t need to make the highest offers to win the homes,” said Miguel Villegas, director of NAF Cash*. “Buying with cash is more attractive for sellers. It reduces the uncertainty that the deal will fall through if the buyer has trouble qualifying for a mortgage.”
Buyers don’t always need to have the money upfront to purchase a home in cash. Some programs, such as NAF Cash, help buyers to make cash offers. NAF Cash will typically buy the home in cash and rent it to the buyers while the buyers get a mortgage.
This can be particularly helpful for homeowners who are relocating out of state.
“Buyers don’t have to wait to sell their home to purchase a new one,” said Villegas.
Where are buyers purchasing homes in cash?
Buyers were most likely to pay in cash in West Virginia. In 2024, about 41.1% of all home sales in the state were cash, according to the analysis.
“We’re definitely seeing more cash buyers,” said Josh McGrath, president of the West Virginia Association of Realtors. The Charleston, W.V.-based real estate broker at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Central has eight brokerages in the state.
“We’re seeing a lot of out-of-state buyers coming to West Virginia,” he said. “They’re buying at about every price point imaginable.”
Many cash buyers in West Virginia are investors purchasing properties to flip or turn into rentals. They will often purchase dilapidated properties priced below $50,000 in cash, he said.
Others are remote workers relocating to the state for its affordability. (The median home list price in the state was $263,881 in April—compared to $431,250 nationally, according to Realtor.com data.)
There are also older buyers who may have left the state to build their careers and are returning to retire in the state.
“They can sell their homes in those bigger markets and pay cash here,” said McGrath.
New York had the second highest percentage of cash sales last year at about 40.4%, according to the analysis.
In the expensive New York City area, most of these buyers pulled the money out of investments, said New York City-based appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel.
They’re buying in the city as well as purchasing vacation homes in the tony Hamptons or in upstate New York, said Miller. He’s also seeing more parents using cash to buy homes for their adult children.
Investors are also paying cash for properties upstate in cities like Buffalo, N.Y., according to ATTOM.
“Cash, over the last two years, has become an important mechanism to bypass higher mortgage rates,” said Miller. “The higher in price, the higher the probability is that someone is paying cash.”
Which states had the highest percentage of cash sales?
The states below had the highest percentage of cash home sales in 2024**:
1. West Virginia
Percentage of cash sales: 41.1%
2. New York
Percentage of cash sales: 40.4%
3. Delaware
Percentage of cash sales: 38.9%
4. Georgia
Percentage of cash sales: 37.5%
5. Alabama
Percentage of cash sales: 36.7%
6. South Carolina
Percentage of cash sales: 35.2%
7. North Carolina
Percentage of cash sales: 34.3%
8. Louisiana
Percentage of cash sales: 34.1%
9. Maine
Percentage of cash sales: 33.4%
10. Ohio
Percentage of cash sales: 31.5%
* NAF Cash is an affiliated company of national mortgage lender New American Funding that helps approved homebuyers make all-cash offers.
** The 2024 data is as of May 1, 2025. As more property records are reported, this may impact the percentage of cash sales in the states.
