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Comment by metamet | Hacker News Reader

> But the investors and second home buyers sure do.

I'm curious about this, because from what I've heard, a lot of investors are incredibly happy with the higher interest rates as they're paying cash for a lot of homes, which has been squeezing real homeowners out of the market since they are able to shortcut by making offers on houses without requiring financing.

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Institutional investors would need to justify to their LPs why whatever they will end up earning beats buying and holding Treasuries instead. The higher rates Treasuries have the tougher it is to make that justification.

No investors are paying cash for homes. The entire real estate game is about maximizing leverage with the massive home loans you can get.

They absolutely are.

I have multiple friends who received cash offers from investment companies when selling their homes. It's fairly common and well known.

"We buy houses" companies are everywhere. It's their entire strategy.

"cash offer" here means they already have the loans lined up.

They may have lines of credit, but they aren't taking out a mortgage--especially in the same market/rates that are available to homeowners. REITs and other investors will often pay cash, especially when it's a residential unit they look to either rent or flip.

The higher the risk-free rate goes, the less attractive housing is as an investment. Treasuries don’t require maintenance and upkeep.

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