Home-Purchase Cancellations Reach Record High

With escalating home prices, stubborn mortgage interest rates, and growing concerns about long-term financial security, more buyers are backing out of home sales than in the past few years. According to a recent report from real estate marketing platform Redfin, approximately 58,000 U.S. home-purchase agreements were canceled in July, which is about 15.3% of homes that went under contract during the month. This figure marks a 14.5% increase from the year prior and is the highest July figure since 2017.

The most home-purchase cancellations were observed in Texas and Florida

Homebuyers are pulling out of purchases in Florida and Texas at higher rates, likely due to concerns about natural disasters in those areas and recent increases in housing inventory that give buyers more purchasing options.

In San Antonio, 730 home-purchase agreements were canceled in July, which is about 22.7% of homes put under contract during the month. In Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Jacksonville, Fla., 21.3% of all home-purchase agreements were cancelled, respectively.

Which markets are seeing cancellations rise the most, and which are seeing the most declines in cancellations?

Other housing markets may not have seen as many home-purchase cancellations as Texas and Florida, but many saw significant increases in cancellations compared to this time a year ago.

In Virginia Beach, Va., for instance, 16.1% of all home-purchase agreements were cancelled in July, up 3.6 percentage points from a year earlier. Virginia Beach was followed by Newark, N.J., and Baltimore, where contract cancellations increased by 3.3 percentage points and 3.0 percentage points, respectively.

Meanwhile, things are looking up in Phoenix, which saw the largest decline in contract cancellations in the report, a 2.4 percentage-point downshift year-over-year. Orlando, Fla., and Tampa, Fla., also saw home-purchase cancellations decline by 1.4 percentage points and 1.3 percentage points, respectively, over the same time period.

Home-purchase cancellations may have reached a new high, but they have been growing for some time

• Pending Home-Sale Cancellations Reach New High: In January 2025, 41,000 home deals fell through nationwide.

• More Buyers Walk Away as Home Cancellations Tick Up in April: In April, 56,000 home sales were cancelled.