Close to three-quarters of homes sold in this US desert city are paid for with cash

House hunters willing to make an all-cash offer on a property typically have a major leg up on their competitors who require financing, because there is less of a chance the sale would fall through.And a city in the Southwest tops the list for all-cash deals.Close to three-quarters of homes bought in Albuqurque, NM, were paid for in all cash, entirely bypassing the often nerve-wracking mortgage process.In the high-desert city with a population of more than a half-million, made famous as the setting of AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” 71% of home purchases were all-cash in October 2024, according to the latest figures available from Realtor.com.The median list price in New Mexico’s largest metro was $399,900 at the time.Albuquerque’s all-cash share was more than double the national average of 34.6% of all-cash home purchases.“Albuquerque is relatively affordable, which makes cash purchases easier,” says Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner.

“It’s also an attractive market for investors … and investors are generally more able to pay in cash or secure their own financing other than a conventional mortgage.”Berner adds that Albuquerque has led the national rate of all-cash purchases for a long time, “and the gap is growing.”The top 10 cities where at least 40% of home purchases were paid for fully in cash were all located in the South and West, including three in Florida, two in Texas, and one each in New Mexico, South Carolina, Nevada, Alabama, and Tennessee.Berner says that is because properties in those parts of the country are generally more affordable than in other market sectors.Coming in at No.2 behind Albuquerque is Myrtle Beach, SC, where all-cash homebuying deals accounted for just shy of 56% of residential real estate purchases during the same period, with the median list price standing at $340,000.The City of North Port, FL, sandwiched between Tampa and Fort Myers along the Gulf Coast, saw all-cash home purchases top...