Business
Redfin Reports 14% of Home-Sale Agreements Fell Through Last Month—A Record for February
SEATTLE, March 24, 2026--More than 42,000 U.S. home-sale agreements fell through in February, equal to 13.7% of homes that went under contract that month. That’s up from 12.8% a year earlier, and the highest February share in records dating back to 2017, according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket.
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[{"type":"list","items":[{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"House hunters have the upper hand, allowing them to abandon deals over price, repairs or second thoughts.","length":105,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Cancellations are most common in Tampa and San Antonio, where there are roughly twice as many sellers as buyers.","length":112,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}}]}],"tagName":"ul","bulletedList":true,"length":217,"olType":false},{"type":"text","content":"SEATTLE, March 24, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 42,000 U.S. home-sale agreements fell through in February, equal to 13.7% of homes that went under contract that month. That’s up from 12.8% a year earlier, and the highest February share in records dating back to 2017, according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket.","length":355,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"This is based on a Redfin analysis of MLS pending-sales data. The data is seasonal, which is why this February is compared to past Februarys.","length":141,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Nearly one in every seven homebuying deals are falling through largely because buyers are in the driver’s seat. There are hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers in the country, a near-record gap that gives buyers options and negotiating power. A buyer may back out of a contract during the inspection period if they see a home they like better or an issue comes up that they don’t want to repair—or they might just change their mind, confident that there are a lot of other homes on the market that fit their criteria.","length":531,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":""Homes are falling out of contract left and right," said Juan Castro, a Redfin Premier agent in Orlando, FL. "Sometimes buyers make an offer but never send the deposit because they get nervous, sometimes they revisit numbers with lenders and don’t feel comfortable with the monthly payments, and other times they use a minor inspection issue as an excuse to back out. I’m also seeing buyers negotiate aggressively—for instance, maybe they ask for a brand-new roof because three shingles are missing on an otherwise perfectly good roof—then cancel the deal if the seller says no."","length":599,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"House hunters are also feeling jittery because of econom...