In some U.S. metropolitan areas, nearly one in five home purchase agreements are falling through as the markets there tilt toward buyers.
More than 48,500 home-purchase agreements were canceled nationwide in May, representing 13.6 percent of homes that went under contract during the month, according to data released Wednesday by online brokerage Redfin. The cancellation rate was unchanged from a year earlier and has remained largely stable since the beginning of this year.
While the national cancellation rate has remained relatively stable, some markets are seeing significantly higher rates of buyers backing out of deals.
Deal cancellations were most common in markets across the South, many of which have undergone a dramatic shift from pandemic-era homebuying hotspots to some of the strongest buyer’s markets in the country, according to Redfin.
Atlanta recorded the highest cancellation rate in the country in May, with 18.8 percent of pending home sales falling through. It was followed by Fort Worth, Texas, at 18.1 percent; Jacksonville, Florida, at 17.9 percent; San Antonio, at 17.8 percent; and Orlando, also at 17.8 percent.
Outside the South, Phoenix and Las Vegas also ranked among the top 10 metros for contract cancellations, with rates of 17.6 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively. Detroit, at 17 percent, was the only Midwestern metro area to make the top 10.
At the other end of the spectrum, homebuyers in parts of the Northeast and West were far less likely to walk away from signed contracts. San Francisco and New York’s Nassau County tied for the lowest cancellation rate among major metros at 3.9 percent, well below the national average.
Nationally, the share of home purchase agreements falling through has remained remarkably consistent over the past two years, fluctuating between 13.4 percent and 14 percent. The last major spike occurred in March 2020, when the housing market was disrupted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, today’s cancellation rates remain notably higher than those seen between 2020 and 2022, when historically low mortgage rates and limited inventory created one of the strongest seller’s markets in recent memory.
The balance has since shifted. According to Redfin, there are now hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers nationwide, giving prospective homeowners more freedom to walk away from a deal if they find a better option.
For one, inventory has been rising, giving buyers more options and reducing the urgency that characterized the pandemic-era home-buying frenzy. According to the National Association of Realtors, unsold inventory climbed to 1.55 million units in May, up 3.3 percent from April and 0.6 percent from a year earlier. That represented a 4.5-month supply of homes at the current sales pace.
Home-price growth has also slowed, even as prices still sit near record highs. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index, U.S. home prices rose 1.7 percent between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Prices increased 0.5 percent between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
Redfin also pointed to broader economic uncertainty as a factor causing some buyers to rethink purchases.
“House hunters are also sometimes changing their minds due to financial instability caused by geopolitical turmoil, like the Iran war, and economic uncertainty, like inflation risk and lack of job security,” the company said.
