Real estate agents are facing an unprecedented wave of indecisive buyers as the market becomes increasingly challenging. A recent report from Redfin reveals that nearly 56,000 agreements for home purchases were abandoned in June, marking 15% of all contracts for that month—the highest percentage recorded for June.
Julie Zubiate, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in the San Francisco Bay Area, attributed the rise in canceled deals to increasingly selective buyers who are grappling with high costs in the market. “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,” she said.
In Miami, real estate agent Rafael Corrales highlighted experiences of “nightmare scenarios,” with last-minute cancellations often occurring over trivial details. Approximately 2,500 home purchases were canceled in Miami in June, accounting for around 17.6% of homes that were under contract. Corrales emphasized that the main concern is affordability.
The median home sale price reached a record $442,525 in June, with the average rate on a 30-year mortgage at 6.92%. In addition to high home prices and elevated mortgage rates, prospective buyers are overwhelmed by insurance, property taxes, homeowners association (HOA) fees, and other ownership-related costs that have been intensified by inflation.
Nationwide affordability issues have led to a significant drop in home sales, marking the largest decline in eight months, according to Redfin. Monthly home sales decreased by 0.5% in June—the most significant drop since October 2023. Comparatively, year-over-year home sales fell by 1.1% and were down 21.5% from pre-pandemic levels.