Published October 27, 2026 in Market Update

Cash Buyers Here Take Longer to Close Than Loan Buyers

By Andy Neal

Real estate, Agent Single Line

A lot of sellers come to me convinced that a cash offer is the fastest, cleanest way to get to the closing table. I pulled every listing in my west Orange County market through September 22, 2026, and one number stopped me cold. Cash buyers took longer to close than buyers who used a loan. Not by a little. The typical cash buyer took 33.5 days. The typical loan buyer took 27 days. That gap is real, and it changes how you should think about the offer in front of you.

Cash buyers paid the same price and waited longer to close

Here is what I expected to find: cash buyers closing faster and maybe paying a little less. That is the deal cash is supposed to offer. Sellers take a lower price in exchange for speed and certainty. But that is not what happened in this market.

The typical cash buyer closed in 33.5 days. The typical buyer who used a loan closed in 27 days. That is 6.5 days longer for cash. And on price, both groups landed at exactly 100% of the last asking price. Cash buyers paid $819,750 at the middle. Loan buyers paid $715,000 at the middle. The gap in price is not a discount for cash: it reflects that cash buyers tended to buy larger, more expensive homes.

So if you are a seller weighing a cash offer against a financed one, cash alone is not a reason to take less money. The financed buyers in this market are closing just as reliably, and they are doing it faster.

This holds across every part of the market, not just one corner of it

I cut the data every way I could to see if the cash-equals-fast idea held somewhere. It did not. Whether I looked by bedrooms, by size, by the decade the home was built, or by neighborhood, the sold price as a share of the last asking price was 100% across the board. No group of sellers gave anything away. Homes in Waterleigh sold at 100% of asking. Three-bedroom homes sold at 100%. Homes built in the 1980s sold at 100%. Homes built in the 2020s sold at 100%.

The market did soften a little as the summer went on. In July 2026, the typical home sold for $765,000. By August 2026, that number was $690,000. But even in August, sellers still got 100% of their last asking price. The price came down, but sellers who priced right still got what they asked.

Cash is still nearly 3 in 10 deals, and that tells you something

28.7% of the 481 sales where we know how the buyer paid were cash. That is 138 buyers. Nationally in September 2026, 27% of transactions were cash sales, down from 30% a year earlier, according to the National Association of REALTORS. So this market is running right at the national pace, which means cash buyers are a real part of the pool here. You will see them.

What you should not do is assume a cash offer is automatically better. In this market, it is not faster. It is not cheaper for the buyer. And sellers are not giving discounts to get it. The Freddie Mac weekly rate survey put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% as of October 22, 2026, up from 6.19% a year ago. The Orlando Regional REALTOR Association noted that a 7.3% rate changes the math for a lot of families. That is real. But the financed buyers who are still in this market are getting to the table, and they are getting there in 27 days.

What this means if you are selling or buying right now

If you are selling, do not automatically favor a cash offer over a financed one. In this market, the financed buyer is closing faster and paying full price. What matters more than how they pay is whether they are pre-approved, whether the price is right, and whether the contract is clean. Price your home to the last asking price you can defend, and the data says you will get it.

If you are buying with a loan, this is actually encouraging news. You are not at a structural disadvantage here. The National Association of REALTORS reported that national existing-home sales rose 1.5% in September 2026, so there is some movement in the broader market. But locally, sellers are holding firm at 100% of asking. Come in with a strong pre-approval, move quickly on inspections, and do not expect to negotiate the price down. The numbers say sellers are not moving on price.