Cash buyers dominated the US housing boom. Now financed buyers are fighting back

Cash is losing some of its advantage in the US housing market as home sales slow, inventory increases and price growth moderates, giving buyers relying on mortgages a better chance of competing. The share of homes bought with cash fell to 31.4% in the first four months of 2026, from 32.3% during the same period a year earlier, according to Realtor.com data cited by CNBC. Cash purchases have also declined faster than the overall housing market. Total home sales fell 8.5% year-on-year during the period, while the number of cash sales dropped 11.2%. The shift comes as price growth has slowed sharply. The national median home price increased just 0.2% annually, compared with 1.8% growth in 2025 and a peak annual increase of 15.4% in 2021. “Cash buyers aren’t disappearing; they’re simply becoming less dominant as the housing market finds its footing,” Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a release. “More inventory and moderating prices are giving financed buyers more opportunities to compete,” she said, adding that cash continues to give sellers confidence that transactions can close quickly and with fewer surprises. Cash buyers lose ground after years of dominance Cash had gained importance during the pandemic-era housing boom, when limited supply and intense bidding wars made cash offers particularly attractive. Its importance continued after interest rates rose. But recent data indicate that trend is reversing. According to a National Association of Realtors survey cited by CNBC, cash accounted for 26% of existing-home sales in July 2026, down from 31% in July 2025. The decline has not been uniform across the country. Pittsburgh, Austin and San Francisco recorded increases in the share of transactions completed with cash compared with a year earlier. In those markets, the rise was also accompanied by an increase in the actual number of cash purchases. Financed buyers are winning competitive deals Dana Bull, a real estate agent in the Boston area, said she has seen fewer cash buyers even though the Boston market remains competitive. “There was certainly a period of time when cash was king, which was right after interest rates climbed and aggressive bidding wars were commonplace. It’s been tapering off,” Bull said, as quoted by CNBC. She said buyers are still waiving financing terms in some cases, while she recommends that clients in hotter neighbourhoods obtain pre-underwriting, rather than only pre-approval, to strengthen their offers against cash buyers. Bull cited two recent examples in which financed buyers won competitive bidding situations. “I had a client win a bidding war against about 15 offers this spring (financed with pre-underwriting), and my team member just beat out 27 other offers on a house in Arlington (also financed),” she said. “I don’t think this would have happened in 2022-2025 during the cash craze,” Bull added.