It is pretty clear that we need to get the short sales and foreclosures off the market in order for real estate to rebound.  The question is:  are investors good for real estate?  The past few months investors have purchased about 23% of the homes on the market.  At first glance this is a good thing but the problem is that they are making more and more cash offers, actually about 74% are cash deals.  Still wondering where the problem lies?  The banks negotiating the short sales and foreclosures prefer the cash transactions over financed ones as they are a sure thing and quicker to close with financed buyers needing 30+ days to close.  The cash buyers are also offering 10-20% less on the properties and the banks are still taking these cash offers over financed offers.  What it all comes down to is that the cash investors are driving the low prices down even further and taking properties away from traditional financed buyers.  You be the judge, is this a good or bad thing for the real estate market?  Statistics from USA Today.