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Homebuyers canceled purchase contracts at record levels in December, another sign of the uncertainty in the housing market.
More than 40,000 home purchase contracts were canceled in December, representing 16.3% of all homes contracted that month, according to an analysis released on January 26 by national brokerage Redfin.
Redfin’s records only go back to 2017, but this period includes March 2020, when a panicked world went into lockdown due to the coronavirus. December’s total was barely higher than the same month.
“Rising home prices and increasing inventory are making homebuyers’ choices even tougher,” Chen Zhao, head of economic research at Redfin, said in a statement. “The number of home sellers outnumbering buyers by a record margin means buyers in the market have options and are likely to leave if they believe they can find a better, more affordable home.”
The number of home resales in 2025 was even lower than in 2024, which was the lowest since 1995. Observers say the combination of high mortgage rates and home prices has left sellers unwilling to accept missing out on the top of the market and pricing accordingly, and buyers being cautious about the economy and commitments.
In fact, Redfin’s findings mirror a similar dynamic USA TODAY noted in November. Throughout 2025, sellers were taking properties off the market at a 50% higher rate than the previous year, according to Realtor.com data.
“The distance between buyers and sellers is very large,” a senior economist at Realtor.com said at the time. And Joan Rogers, associate principal broker at Windermere Realty Trust in Portland, Ore., calls it a “standoff market where sellers still feel like it should be a seller’s market and buyers still feel like it should be a buyer’s market. As a result, this is nobody’s market.”
Redfin’s report notes that buyers may be using testing contingencies in purchase contracts as a workaround. “Even if the primary reason for cancellation is realizing that the mortgage payments are too high, the purchase may be canceled due to structural issues discovered during the inspection,” the report explains.
“Buyers have options and are willing to negotiate to find the right home,” said Alison Williams, Redfin Premier Real Estate Agent in Sacramento, California. “If the seller hasn’t fixed maintenance issues or the home is priced too high, buyers may back out.”
