Over One Third of Properties Are Bought With Cash

 

  • Properties purchased with cash accounted for over third (34.3%) of all transactions across England and Wales in the first half of 2017. There were over 133,500 cash transactions between January and June according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.
  • The proportion of cash transactions has remained fairly consistent over the past five years, with an average of around 33% since 2012. Levels last peaked in Q1 2016 (34.7%) as investors rushed to buy before the 3% additional stamp duty charge. The figure for Q2 2017 is higher still at 36.7% - it is too soon to say whether this heralds a trend.
  • The highest proportion was in the South West where two in every five sales was a cash purchase. In London, the figure was just one in four, unsurprising as average property prices here are over twice the England and Wales average.
  • The average price paid for a cash purchase is 9% lower than with a mortgage. There could be several explanations for this. The typical cash buyer could be an investor or a down-sizer. Investors tend to buy smaller properties and downsizers, trade larger for smaller homes to release equity.