Cash sales accounted for 36.4% of total home sales in November 2015, down 0.7% year over year. In November 2014 cash sales totaled 37.1%.  Month-over-month cash sales increased by 2.5% from October to November, however due to seasonal changed, cash sales are more easily measured on a year-over-year basis.

The year-over-year decrease was the lowest in almost three years. The elevated cash share for November was most likely related to the new federal mortgage rules that took effect in October 2015 as some mortgage deals were delayed while the industry adjusted to the new mortgage rules, according to mortgage data provider, CoreLogic.

The cash sales peaked in January 2011 at 46.6%. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash share of total home sales averaged about 25%.

This graph shows the national historical trend in cash sales share by sale type. The largest cash sales were real estate owned at 63.2%, followed by resales, short sales and lastly, real estate owned.

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Source: CoreLogic

This graph shows the total cash sales share by state for November 2015. The states with the largest cash sales share of any state at 53.4%, followed by Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and New York.

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Source: CoreLogic