In June, real estate agents reported an alarming spike in canceled home-purchase agreements, with nearly 56,000 deals, or 15% of contracts, falling through. This figure marks the highest percentage for any June since Redfin began tracking this data.
Julie Zubiate, a Redfin Premier agent in the San Francisco Bay Area, attributes this trend to increasingly selective buyers who are hesitant due to the high costs associated with homeownership today. “They’re backing out due to minor issues because the monthly costs of buying a home now are too high to justify settling for less than their ideal checklist,” she explained.
In Miami, agent Rafael Corrales noted “nightmare scenarios,” where buyers pulled out at the last minute over trivial details. Approximately 2,500 home purchases were canceled in the city last month, representing around 17.6% of contracts in June. Corrales highlighted affordability as the primary concern for buyers.
The median sale price for homes reached a record high of $442,525 in June, coinciding with an average 30-year mortgage rate of 6.92%. Buyers are also facing increased challenges from rising insurance rates, property taxes, homeowners’ association fees, and other costs tied to inflation, compounding the already high ownership expenses.
As affordability becomes a pressing issue across the nation, Redfin confirmed that home sales experienced their most significant decline in eight months. Overall, sales dropped by 0.5% month-over-month in June, the largest decrease since October 2023, and year-over-year sales decreased by 1.1%, standing 21.5% below pre-pandemic levels.