More luxury homebuyers paying with cash this year, report says

More luxury homebuyers are paying with cash to acquire properties this year, a report from Coldwell Banker Real Estate revealed.

The company said in its “2025 Mid-Year Report” that more than half of over 200 surveyed Coldwell Banker luxury property specialists reported an uptick in wealthy buyers purchasing homes with cash.

 Roughly 34.1% said there has been a “slight increase” while 16.6% said there has been a “significant” rise in that method. 

Mortgage rates have played into the increase in buyers paying cash to acquire homes, according to National Association of Realtors Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research Lawrence Yun. 

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“High mortgage rates are not appealing for borrowing, and, therefore, that induces the wealthy to pay all cash for real estate (after selling off a few of their assets),” he told FOX Business. 

Many have been turning to personal savings, stocks or funds they netted from selling another property as the “primary” means to make their luxury home purchases, according to the Coldwell Banker Real Estate report. 

Meanwhile, for 45.4% of specialists, cash purchases have stayed at their current levels so far this year, per the report.

On the flip side, just 3.9% of the Coldwell Banker luxury property specialists indicated their clients were moving away from buying homes through all-cash deals, Coldwell Banker Real Estate said.

The trend in cash purchases comes as roughly 68% of Coldwell Banker agents said rich homebuyers they work with are “maintaining – or increasing – current real estate exposure.” 

“We’ve had a lot of volatility along with macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty this year. There’s been a lot of transition and that’s actually turned a lot affluent buyers toward real estate,” Jenna Stauffer, a Florida-based broker and Global Real Estate Advisor for Sotheby’s Internal Realty, told FOX Business.

“Real estate proves itself as an anti-fragile asset,” she continued. “Unlike many investments that struggle under uncertainty, real estate tends to strengthen over time and remains one of the best long-term hedges against inflation. That’s why so many smart investors and high net worth buyers are parking their money in property this year. They’re using it to preserve and grow their wealth.” 

While wealthy buyers are sticking to their guns when it comes to what they want from a home, Coldwell Banker Real Estate also said they “are being strategic about their purchases and prioritizing aspects of the home that create value over aesthetic perfection” such as affordability, taxes, and investment potential.

That could drive a rise in “smart buyers” focused on “discernment and strategy instead of pure indulgence,” according to the report. 

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The report also shed light on how ultra-high net worth buyers with over $30 million in assets and “aspirational buyer” worth $1-5 million are engaging with the luxury real estate market. 

Some in the latter category, faced with economic uncertainty, are approaching the market with caution, per the report. 

Michael Altneu, vice president of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, said in the report that the luxury market “has continued to show strength” in 2025 but various factors have “tempered a more full-scale rebound in market activity.”  

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing data showed a 1.7% increase in sales of luxury single-family homes in the period spanning January to the end of May from those seen in the same timeframe last year and a 1.8% uptick in sale prices, according to Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

For attached luxury properties, there was a 8.1% decrease in sales but the median transaction price went up an average of 8.4%. 

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Both types of properties saw year-over-year increases in supply during the first five months of the year, with luxury single-family homes posting a 19.6% jump and attached notching a 14.8% rise, the report said. 

The U.S. saw active listings of single family homes, condos, townhomes and other types of housing reach over 1 million in May, a level that the country hadn’t climbed above since the winter of 2019, according to a Realtor.com report released in early June.