Housing recovery includes atypical buyers

Online real estate marketplace RealtyTrac said a significant portion of the U.S. housing market recovery included no-loan sales and institutional investors. RealtyTrac said in August 45 percent of all residential sales were all-cash deals, in which no loans were recorded at the time of the sale. That is up from 39 percent in July and from 30 percent in August 2012, RealtyTrac said Thursday in a release. Institutional investors are buyers who have purchased 10 or more properties in the past 12 months. In August, 10 percent of all sales included institutional investors, up 1 percentage point from July 2012 and from August 2012. In some markets, institutional investors are significantly higher. In Memphis, Tenn., 31 percent of home sales in August involved an institutional investor, RealtyTrac said. Other cities with high rates of institutional investors included Jacksonville, Fla., with 29 percent, Atlanta with 22 percent and St. Louis and Detroit with 17 percent. In August, the national median sales price for homes was $175,000, up 3 percent from July and 6 percent from August 2012, RealtyTrac said.