All-cash real estate purchases are on the rise in New York City, a new study shows.
According to a recent analysis by the New York Business Journal, 46% of first-quarter home sales in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area were purchased without loan financing, up from 43.1% during the same quarter in 2025.
“When cash purchases hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024 at 42.6%, they were a powerful negotiating tool amid a competitive market,” the Journal noted in its report. “Home sales requiring mortgages often close in 30 to 45 days, while those without are typically finalized in a week or two, making them especially attractive to sellers in a competitive market.”
Using information from property data provider ATTOM, the Journal reported that metro areas where cash sales accounted for the highest shares of total sales in the first quarter included Honolulu (76.5%); Hilo, Hawaii (74.2%); Athens, Georgia (67.6%); Naples, Florida (66.6%); and Utica, New York (61.6%).
National numbers represented a slight decline: 23 American cities saw a double-digit drop in cash-purchased homes since last year, including a 26% decline in Madison, Wisconsin, a 22% drop in Trenton, New Jersey, and a 17% decrease in Buffalo, New York.
But data from the National Association of Realtors showed that those buyers who were able to pull off all-cash sales were not necessarily millionaires or billionaires.
According to the numbers, many homebuyers who rely solely on cash are spending from the sale of a previous home, while others are utilizing an inheritance.
“Unfolding in the housing market is a tale of two cities,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist, told the Journal. “We’re seeing buyers with significant housing equity making larger down payments and all-cash offers, while first-time buyers continue to struggle to enter the market.”
The data also showed that the median age of a first-time home buyer is now 40 years old, while the median age for all home buyers is 59 — a trend that concerns both economists and housing market advocates.
“For generations, access to homeownership has been the primary way Americans build wealth and the cornerstone of the American Dream,” said Shannon McGahn, NAR executive vice president and chief advocacy officer. “Delayed or denied homeownership until age 40 instead of 30 can mean losing roughly $150,000 in equity on a typical starter home.”