Cash buyers flock to Melbourne CBD, Gold Coast apartments – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

“Because they aren’t sensitive to interest rate movements they can continue to transact despite rising interest rates.”

The share of cash buyers widened in the past year, rising to 26.7 per cent of all sales in NSW, lifting to 27.8 per cent in Queensland and to 24.1 per cent in Victoria.

Last year, cash purchases accounted for 24.3 per cent of all sales in NSW, 26.9 per cent in Queensland and 20.6 per cent in Victoria.

Geoff White, a Melbourne-based real estate agent, said most of the cash buyers were owner-occupiers who sold their suburban homes to live in the city.

“We’re definitely seeing an influx of buyers who made substantial profits selling their properties in the suburbs. They are now putting that money into CBD apartments which have not risen as much in value in the past couple of years,” Mr White said.

“We’re also dealing with plenty of cashed-up foreign buyers, which make up a fair share of our sales. Quite a few are buying apartments for their children who are studying at university.”

The difficulty of securing finance in the current high-interest rate environment could potentially have prompted more buyers to pay cash, said Tim Lawless, CoreLogic research director.

“It’s unsurprising to see cash sales comprising a larger portion of the market at a time when qualifying for credit has become harder,” Mr Lawless said.

“Lenders must assess a borrower’s ability to service their loan at three percentage points above the going rate, which means…