Potential buyers depart from an open house in Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images
As the residential real estate market continues to lose momentum, competition wanes and cash is no longer needed to score deals.
According to Realtor.com, which tracks both new and existing homes, cash sales accounted for 31.4% of sales in the first four months of this year, down from 32.3% in the same period last year. Buyers with mortgages are getting a tailwind from falling prices, rising inventory and declining seller confidence.
In fact, cash buyers are exiting faster than the overall market decline. Total home sales for the same period decreased by 8.5% year-on-year, while the number of cash sales decreased by 11.2%. This coincided with a slowdown in price growth. National median prices rose just 0.2% annually, far below the 1.8% growth in 2025 and well below the 2021 peak of 15.4%.
“Cash buyers aren’t going away, they’re just becoming less dominant as the housing market gains more foothold,” Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a release. “Increased inventory and easing prices are giving financed buyers more competitive opportunities. Cash is still important, but the biggest advantage today isn’t just winning a bidding war. It’s also giving sellers confidence that deals will close quickly and with fewer surprises.”
Cash was seen as a necessity in some of the most competitive markets at the height of the pandemic housing boom and has historically been in short supply, especially after rising interest rates and has remained so for several years. According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors, 26% of total cash sales in July were for existing homes, down from 31% in July 2025.
Although cash sales are down nationwide, some markets are still seeing increases. Pittsburgh, Austin, Texas and San Francisco all saw an increase in the proportion of cash transactions compared to a year ago. This is not only due to a decline in total sales. This is due to an increase in the actual number of cash purchases.
Dana Bull, a Boston-area real estate agent, said her market is seeing fewer cash buyers, even though Boston is still quite competitive.
“There was certainly a time when cash was king, right after interest rates rose and intense bidding wars became the norm. That trend is tapering off,” Bull said.
He said financing conditions are still being waived, and in popular areas, buyers are encouraged to pre-underwrite rather than just pre-approval to compete with cash.
“I helped a client win a bidding war this spring against about 15 offers (financed with pre-underwriting), and my team members just beat out 27 other offers on a home in Arlington (also financed). I don’t think this would have happened in the cash boom of 2022-2025,” Bull said.
