South Florida tops the list of the nation’s hottest markets for homebuyers making all-cash purchases, according to a new study.
In a report released by the real estate brokerage firm Redfin, the West Palm Beach metropolitan area had the highest share of cash-only home purchases in December 2025, making up about 47.2% of total sales.
The Miami metropolitan area tied with Jacksonville for second place with 39.3% of purchases paid in cash, and the Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area ranked in the top six with 35.8% of purchases in cash.
Despite the national share of all-cash home sales hitting a five-year low of 29%, South Florida remains an attractive market for affluent out-of-state buyers and investors who do not need to finance properties, according to experts.
“When you look at us here in Florida, we’re kind of the anomaly,” said Jonathan Dolphus, president of the Broward, Palm Beach & St. Lucie Realtors association. “You have the favorable business environment and economic side here in Florida that attracts people of substantial wealth.”
Of the top 10 metropolitan areas ranked by Redfin for cash sales, six were located in Florida.
Cash purchases on homes across the nation increased from a 25.2% share in December 2020 to a 29.1% share in December 2021. The percentage of December all-cash home purchases peaked in 2023 at 33.7% and has declined on average since.
The accompanying shift from a strong seller’s market to a more balanced market favoring buyers has generally given buyers more power to negotiate on financing.
But experts say that the abundance of wealthy buyers looking for South Florida properties has mitigated the decline of all-cash purchases in the region. Last year, South Florida also topped Redfin’s ranking of metropolitan areas with all-cash home sales, with West Palm Beach, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale landing in the top five.
Since the pandemic, the migration to Florida soared. Many buyers coming from states with higher property values, such as California and New York, may cash out on purchases in Florida when they’d be unable to do so in their home states, according to Dolphus and Lang Realty broker Ryan Greenblatt.
Greenblatt, who also teaches at Florida Atlantic University, added that purchases on second homes and seasonal properties also help drive sustained higher rates of cash sales.
“There’s a big movement of wealth to the area, and those people don’t need or want mortgages,” Greenblatt said. “If it’s a second or a third home, it’s not as easy to get a mortgage and it’s not even on the radar.” For those buying “a condo for a few months a year, you’re not going to finance that.”
In 2026, all-cash sales have remained high in South Florida, according to the Broward, Palm Beach & St. Lucie Realtors’ January 2026 report. Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties have each seen small year-over-year gains in all-cash condo sales; while all-cash, single-family home sales in Broward slightly dropped, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade saw sharp increases.