Rise in all-cash transactions turbocharge price gains for luxury homes
CBSN
Well-heeled home shoppers are increasingly paying cash, helping turbocharge price gains for the most expensive U.S. homes.
The median sale price of luxury homes — valued in the top 5% of the market nationally — hit an all-time high $1.23 million in the first quarter, an increase of 8.7% from the same period last year, according to an analysis by Redfin. That's almost twice the increase seen in non-luxury homes.
For homes valued in the middle-third of the market, the median sale price rose 4.6% from a year ago to $345,000, according to the report. Redfin didn't factor in price trends for homes with an estimated value in the bottom third of the market.
Alabama has scheduled a date for the upcoming execution of Alan Eugene Miller, a convicted murderer who, after surviving a previous execution attempt, is set to become the second inmate ever put to death using nitrogen gas in the United States. Nitrogen hypoxia is a controversial method allowed only in a handful of U.S. states that essentially aims to asphyxiate the prisoner with a gas mask devoid of oxygen.