With lending restrictions still tight, homebuyers willing to pay cash are very desirable. As the developer American Invsco learned, they are also drawn to rock-bottom prices. In August, when a round of cuts had lowered condo prices at 200 North Dearborn by 35 to 50 percent, 18 condos were closed in one month, every one of them going to all-cash buyers. “That’s more than I’ve seen all at once in 43 years [in the condo business],” says Nicholas S. Gouletas, American Invsco’s chairman and CEO. “People know they should put cash into hard assets if the asset will be worth more than the cash in five [or] ten years. Our prices got down to where the cash buyer would come in.”

Send tips about home sales to dennis@rodkin.com.