Evan Draxler
Cash transactions made up 28% of all U.S. residential home sales in 2025 according to the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers — the highest share since 2014, up from 22% in 2022 and 18% in 2019. The shift isn't driven by institutional investors alone, despite the popular narrative. Individual sellers facing specific situations (foreclosure deadlines, probate timelines, divorce decrees, relocation start dates, financial hardship) are increasingly choosing cash offers over traditional listings, particularly in metros where time-on-market has crept upward and contract fall-through rates have grown. This piece walks through the NAR data, the state-by-state breakdown across the five states Premium Cash Buyers operates in, the structural reasons behind the trend, and the practical implications for sellers deciding between a traditional listing and a direct cash sale in 2026.
1. The Headline Numbers (NAR 2025 Data)
According to NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, cash buyers represented 28% of all 2025 residential transactions nationally — a record share since the post-2008 recovery period. Other key data points from the same report:
- Cash share by region: South 32%, Northeast 27%, Midwest 25%, West 23%
- Time on market median: 50 days (up from 28 days in 2023)
- Contract fall-through rate: 17% nationally (up from 13% in 2023)
- Median financed-buyer closing time: 55 days from accepted offer to keys
- Median cash-buyer closing time: 21 days
- Investor share of cash buyers: ~45% of cash transactions; remaining 55% are individual buyers (relocators, downsizers, second-home purchasers, all-cash heirs)
The investor share of 45% means individual / non-investor cash buyers accounted for roughly 15% of all 2025 transactions — a category that has grown substantially as sellers respond to rising fall-through rates by accepting verified cash even at a discount versus listing.
2. State-by-State Breakdown for IN, OH, WI, TN, GA
Cash share varies significantly by metro and state, driven by local market conditions, foreclosure procedures, and demographic mix. Premium Cash Buyers tracks closing data across our five-state footprint, which aligns directionally with NAR's 2025 Regional Statistics report and the individual state realtor association year-end reports:
3. Why the Cash Share Has Grown — Four Structural Reasons
The 28% cash share didn't emerge from a single cause. Four overlapping structural shifts explain the trend:
4. What This Means for Sellers Deciding in 2026
If you're thinking about selling in 2026, the 28% cash-share data shapes the decision in three practical ways:
- Listings take longer than they used to. A 2026 listing in IN/OH/WI averages 35-50 days on market plus 30-45 days to close. Budget for 2-3 months of carrying cost, not 6 weeks.
- Fall-through risk is real. If a financed buyer's offer represents 100% of your sale outcome, you're carrying 17% probability of a 30-60 day delay if the deal collapses. A cash offer at 80-90% of retail with verified funds removes that risk.
- The discount has narrowed. Cash buyers in 2025-26 typically offered 78-88% of retail (vs 70-78% in 2018-19) because more cash buyers compete for the same inventory. The actual dollar cost of choosing cash is smaller than sellers assume.
- Compare net proceeds, not gross. After agent commissions (5-6%), seller-paid closing costs (2-3%), pre-listing repairs ($5,000-$15,000 for typical homes), and 6-8 weeks of carrying costs, a traditional listing's NET often falls within $5,000-$15,000 of a cash offer's gross — for a $250,000 home.
The math is increasingly close enough that the deciding factor is rarely "highest gross price" — it's situational fit. Sellers with time, a move-in-ready home, and risk tolerance still benefit from listing. Sellers facing deadlines, repairs, or uncertainty increasingly choose cash for the certainty premium.
5. Looking Forward: 2026-27 Trend Outlook
Three indicators worth watching for sellers planning a 2026-27 transaction:
- Mortgage rates: Freddie Mac's mid-2026 forecast (PMMS commentary) projects 6.0%-6.8% range. Lower rates would shrink cash share modestly; sustained rates above 7% would expand it.
- Foreclosure inventory: ATTOM Data's 2025 Q4 Foreclosure Market Report shows foreclosure starts up 9% year-over-year. Continued growth in 2026 expands the pool of sellers facing hard deadlines — exactly the segment most likely to take cash.
- Investor activity: institutional investor share (Wall Street SFR funds) was 17% of cash transactions in 2024, dropping to 12% in 2025 per John Burns Research. The shift means more cash is coming from individual investors and direct buyers — a long-term tailwind for direct-to-seller cash buyer relationships rather than wholesaler-dependent chains.
For Premium Cash Buyers, the through-line is consistent: every quarter brings more sellers facing situations the traditional listing path doesn't serve well. The cash-share growth is structural, not cyclical, and the sellers who benefit most are those who run their own net-proceeds math against both options before committing.
