What is behind the madness of Cash Home buyers in South Florida? – NBC 6 Südflorida

If you have looked at the Südflorida market for some time, you are probably no stranger to sell cash buyers. It is a person who buys a house without the help of a loan.

A new report by Redfin shows that 32.6% of the houses with cash were bought in 2024, the lowest level since 2021, while the number of houses sold for cash fell to 700,455, the lowest in a decade.

“The reason for this trend is that investors are currently buying fewer houses. The returns for investments are somewhat lower than before and larger, since rents in this country were largely flat, ”said Chen Zhao, head of business research at Redfin.

But the story is different in Florida.

The same report found that the metropolises in Florida had the highest proportion of cash homebuyers. West Palm Beach in almost 50%, Fort Lauderdale almost 40%and Miami more than 38%.

“It is a place where many wealthy people buy houses, and often when wealthy people buy houses, they can usually pay with all money. A second piece is that there is a lot of investor activities in Florida. And sometimes investors don't want to finance their real estate and they can buy with all money, ”said Zhao.

In order to put it in the right perspective, the middle price of a house in West Palm Beach, Miami and Fort Lauderdale was 650,000 US dollars in January.

Who are the buyers?

Jonathan Lickstein, President of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors, says that Südflorida has always been an investment hotspot for flips, holiday rentals and removals.

“What we saw from the pandemic was a great trend of people who sold their houses in the northeast or to other places who had higher ratings and used them equity to take it down here,” he said.

This means “the equity of an apartment, a loft in Manhattan, and to take this into a single family house with a larger room and a higher quality of life in South Florida.”

And Lickstein said that these buyers do not retire, but look for more. Some are Americans, but a large part is international buyers.

According to a profile of international buyers from 2024, Argentinians and Colombians made up 32% of all international southern florida sales.

In Broward, the Colombians, is the list of Argentinians in Miami-Dade.

“People in these other countries do not want to devalue their currencies so that they transfer their money here. You buy real estate, which is a great security against inflation, which we are seeing. Whether you believe it or not, I work with many Brazilian companies that move here to Südflorida and carry out development projects and respond to this customers who want to transfer their assets to Südflorida here, ”said commercial real estate agent Bryan Gorrita.

Both experts believe that the purchase of cash in the Sunshine state will remain strong at short notice, but there are various factors that could affect progress.

The first is the number of houses available, with a lot of inventory. Followed by the construction price and the insurance price.

But there is another factor that could change that makes these cash offers.

“The people we are now seeing are the C suite executives. These are the young experts, but the real ones who will change the market are the families. And these are still in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, ”said Gorrita.

According to Gorrita, the Demography of Südflorida could also change if more options and prices are available.

However, if you have the money, other experts say, use it.

“In 2025 I think a really time of God is for sale and a weakness on the market. They have a lot of negotiations as a buyer and many options with the amount of inventory,” said. Lickstein.

As for Redfin, you believe that the future for the sales of cash buyers in 2025 in Florida and at the national level of what we saw in 2024 will look pretty similar.