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That's a good thing since they are pumpin' their aquifer dry.

B.A.C.A.H. says

That's a good thing since they are pumpin' their aquifer dry.

No idea they had one. I thought all their water was pumped a few hundred miles uphill, so that AZ farmers could pretend they were independent, at great taxpayer expense, while hating the gubmint, etc.

That too.

Cash can make sense under certain conditions.

If a bubble has just popped, and prices fall to pre-bubble levels, it might be a buy. But when the median in Phoenix was $110k a decade ago, and now almost $200k, it is overpriced. It doesn't matter if the home is down from an average $265k in 2006.

If inflation is on a tear, then buying real estate with cash may make sense. But government says inflation at most is 2%. The Federal Reserve says deflation is still the threat.

If wages are increasing, then you may pay cash, expecting buyers can afford a bigger mortgage and renters can afford more rent. But wages have been flat. In fact, they are down for many areas.

Yeah, I really don;t know who would be buying a home for cash in Phoenix when prices just doubled in less than a year. Especially when deflation is still a threat and deleveraging has yet to happen. Especially when banks are holding back inventory and politicians are passing bills to stall foreclosures. Somebody paying cash is gonna blow their whole wad and wish they had some left over when the real bottom hits. Cash is alright if somebody is a trader and can get out in time. But it is deadly if this was just a dead cat bounce.

The bubble created a situation in which some people have a lot of debts, and the other side of that is that some people have a lot of cash. Sometime the same people.

So people paying cash is a normal part of the healing process where money flows to plug the debts.

As Shakespeare wrote: "mine shall be spent, When theirs are dry".