Why IS Mortgage Volume Down When Home Purchase Volume has Risen to 2007 Levels?

The explanation for why home sales have recovered despite lackluster mortgage origination is that a lot of homes are getting bought in all-cash deals these days. Across 55 large metropolitan areas that it follows, DataQuick MDA.T -0.18%found that 36% of homes sold last year were purchased without mortgage financing, compared with 15% in 2007. In some of the old hotbeds of speculation, the number of homes getting purchased for cash is eye-catchingly high: In the Miami area, for example, there were 72,459 cash sales last year, against 19,625 five years earlier.