Cash buyers fueling recovery

If the go-go years of the real estate boom were fueled by debt, then cash is dominating the housing recovery today.

Consider luxury homebuilder WCI Communities. The Bonita Springs-based company recently reported that nearly half of its buyers in the third quarter paid all cash for new homes. Just 7% of buyers financed 80% or more of their purchase.

Particularly impressive is the fact that many buyers are willing to pay all cash for a WCI home whose average selling price is $429,000. And buyers aren't having second thoughts: WCI's cancellation rate remained at a low 4.4% year to date.

Homebuilders and investors have fretted that volatile interest rates could kill the nascent residential real estate recovery in Florida. So far, there's little evidence of that.