Cash buyer market share falling from pandemic highs

Cash buyers are beginning to lose some of the outsized influence they gained during the pandemic-era housing boom, according to a new Realtor.com report. Cash purchases accounted for 31.4% of home sales during the first four months of 2026, down from 32.3% a year earlier, and are also declining faster than overall home sales. Total sales fell 8.5% year-over-year, while the number of cash transactions dropped 11.2%. At the same time, national home price growth has slowed considerably. The median sale price increased just 0.2% year-over-year, compared with 1.8% growth in 2025 and a 15.4% peak in 2021. “Cash buyers aren’t disappearing; they’re simply becoming less dominant as the housing market finds its footing,” said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com. “More inventory and moderating prices are giving financed buyers more opportunities to compete. Cash still matters, but today its biggest advantage isn’t just winning bidding wars. It’s also giving sellers confidence that a deal will close quickly and with fewer surprises.” While cash buying is cooling nationally, several major markets are seeing the opposite trend. Pittsburgh posted the largest increase in cash share among...