If You're In The Market For A Condo, You Better Have Cash

If you're in the market for a condo, make sure you've got cash. If you have to wait to get a mortgage application approved, you might lose out to other buyers.

A new report from CoreLogic shows that cash sales account for a large part of the condominium subgroup.

This is especially so in Florida with an 81.2% of cash sales share; Nevada at 80.5%; and New York at 79.5%.

From 2000 to 2007, Nevada and Florida had cash share of 22.9% and 35.4% respectively, but this number exploded during the recession.

"These high rates could be because of several factors, including investors buying up properties and the overall shrinking of the mortgage market," writes Tom Vito at CoreLogic.

Cash purchases accounted for 31% of total U.S. home sales in Q1 2014. In terms of absolute volume, cash transactions have fallen 15% quarter-over-quarter. All-cash purchases might be down from the highs of Q1 2013, Q1 2012, and Q1 2011 but they're still a big part of the housing market.

This chart from CoreLogic shows cash share of total condo sales in the 25 largest states by total sales.