Tri-Cities all-cash home sales mirrored the third-quarter national level, but they part paths when compared to their highest previous levels. 

The third-quarter U.S. cash deals were at their highest level since the first quarter of 2015. Local cash deals are 12% below their 2015 levels. They’re lower because 2015 was when the local housing market recovered and began moving at a faster and faster pace.

During 2014 and for several years before, there was an ample local supply of foreclosures that could be had for below market price. Investors snapped them up. So did owners looking for bargains. 

The heyday came in 2013, 2014. That’s when almost half of all existing home sales were cash deals. By late 2015 most of the best discount deals were gone. 

Cash sales accounted for 34.2% of the Johnson City MSA sales during the third quarter this year and 33.8% of all sales in the Kingsport-Bristol MSA, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.  

ATTOM’s analysis also said institutional investor sales accounted for 4% of Q3 existing home sales in the Kingsport-Bristol metro area. That’s the same market share from Q2. During the first quarter, the percentage was 2.1%. The report does not list any institutional investor sales market share for the Johnson City metro area. 

Institutional investor purchases are sales to non-lending entities that purchased at least 10 properties in a calendar year.