The number of homes going under contract in the United States increased month-over-month in March, but an additional 13.4% of home-sale agreements were canceled due to high costs and economic uncertainty.
According to analysis of Multiple Listing Service by property website, Redfin, nearly 53,000 home-sale agreements fell through in March, up from 12.5% a year earlier. Contract cancellations are most common in larger buyer’s markets like San Antonio and Orlando, where people looking to purchase have more options. Currently, there are 600,000 more home sellers than buyers in the United States housing market.
“Buyers are getting cold feet,” said Patricia Ammann, a Redfin real estate agent in Arlington, Virginia. “There have been layoffs, ups and downs in the market and geopolitical turmoil, and on top of all that, housing costs are still high. Because buyers are considering committing to spending so much money in uncertain times, they’re extremely picky, which is leading some of them to back out before a deal closes.”
Overall, the number of homes going under contract in the United States increased month-over-month during March, according to figures from the National Association of Realtors’ latest report. Over the month, pending home sales rose 4.4% in the Northeast region and 3.9% in the South, while homes under contract fell 1.3% in the Midwest and 2.6% in the West.
IAM Member Impact: The outlook for the consumer household goods moving market in the United States is forecast to remain challenging with higher mortgage rates making any short-term recovery unlikely.
Source: Redfin &The Wall Street Journal