Redfin: Almost 14% of Home Sales Cancelled in January

(Image courtesy of Erik Mclean/pexels.com)

Redfin, Seattle, released a new report finding that 40,000 home-sale agreements nationwide were cancelled in January.

That’s about 13.7% of homes that went under contract in the month, and up from 13.1% in January 2025. It also represents the highest January share in records dating back to 2017.

Redfin pointed to the ongoing buyer’s market and general financial uncertainty as influencing the cancellations.

“More buyers are backing out,” said Alin Glogovicean, a Redfin Premier agent in Los Angeles. “They’re second-guessing the wisdom of making a huge purchase when there’s a fear in the back of their mind about the state of the economy and the uncertainty of their finances. That’s particularly true when they’re first-time buyers who don’t have equity from a previous home sale, and they’re using most or all of their savings on a down payment.”

The highest cancellation rate among the large cities Redfin analyzed is in San Antonio, where 21.2% of home-purchase agreements were canceled in the month.

That’s followed by Atlanta, at 18.5%, Cleveland, at 17.9%, Riverside, Calif., at 17.5%, and Orlando, at 17.3%.

On the flip side, only 3.5% of home-purchase agreements were cancelled in San Francisco, followed by Nassau County, N.Y., at 4.8%, San Jose, Calif., at 5.3%, Milwaukee, at 7.6%, and Oakland, Calif., at 8.4%.