San Diego County Sees 32.4% Jump in Cash Buyers

Green cash flows into to scoop up San Diego real estate but how will this affect the local market and the outlook for home buyers this year?

San Diego County saw the largest leap in cash buyers of California homes in the last year according to data compiler DataQuick. Cash purchases in the state hit over 32% of all home sales in 2012. 13,052 of these transactions were in San Diego County.

While a good portion of this money went to high profile luxury neighborhoods by those seeking exceptional residences in places like La Jolla, 55% were vacation home and investment property purchases.

Multiple home purchasers paying cash bought 36% more homes in the state last year with some individuals and partnerships acquiring as many as 1,300 properties, many of which were no doubt in less expensive areas of Escondido and Rancho Bernardo.

This trend will no doubt breed more of the same this year, forcing others to pony up with cash to compete for homes. The beginning of the year saw a record amount of withdrawals from banks reducing the pressure on them to make loans, and as more individuals become disenchanted with them and fail to see interest rising, they will put cash into investment properties. At the same time weakening real estate markets abroad will draw more to California in search of a safe haven and yields.

While there are still attractive deals to be found from Escondido to La Jolla, the next few weeks will be critical for buyers before the peak spring season kicks in, local homeowners become more confident and raise their asking prices.

Those needing financing should be positioning themselves and getting pre-approved for home loans at least 90 days in advance and definitely need a great San Diego real estate agent to help them present their offers if they want any hope of getting them accepted.