A record number of Americans are using that equity to pay cash for properties, avoiding a mortgage process that has become even more onerous in the wake of the 2007 housing collapse, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. In the first quarter, 29 percent of non-investment homebuyers used cash, the highest on record for the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The majority of people making all-cash deals are baby boomers mostly because America’s largest-ever generation is beginning to retire, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. In 2012, there were a record 61.8 million Americans over the age of 60, according to the Census. That compares with 46.6 million in 2000.
