Realtors are facing an unprecedented number of buyers backing out of home purchases as they become more selective amid a challenging real estate market.
According to a recent Redfin report, nearly 56,000 home-purchase agreements were canceled in June, representing 15% of all homes that were under contract that month. This marks the highest percentage recorded for any June since Redfin began tracking this data.
Julie Zubiate, a Redfin Premier real estate agent based in the San Francisco Bay Area, attributed this trend to buyers becoming choosier as they navigate a higher-priced market. She noted, “They’re backing out due to minor issues because the monthly costs associated with buying a home today are just too high to rationalize not getting everything on their must-have list.”
In Miami, Redfin agent Rafael Corrales reported experiencing “nightmare scenarios” with buyers canceling at the last minute, often over trivial concerns. In June alone, approximately 2,500 home purchases were called off in Miami, amounting to about 17.6% of homes that went under contract. Corrales identified affordability as the primary challenge for prospective homeowners.
The median sale price for homes reached a record high of $442,525 in June, coupled with an average 30-year mortgage rate of 6.92%. Additional expenses such as insurance, property taxes, homeowners association fees, and rising overall costs due to inflation have added to the financial burden on potential buyers.
This nationwide affordability crisis has contributed to the most significant decline in home sales over the past eight months, with a 0.5% drop in sales from the previous month — the largest decrease since October 2023. Year-over-year, home sales have decreased by 1.1% and are now 21.5% lower than pre-pandemic numbers.