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In yet another troubling sign for the U.S. home sale market, buyers across the country canceled home sales in December at the highest rate since the pandemic.
The share of deals in contract that were nixed hit 16.31 percent last month — a hair above the share of cancelations the country saw in March 2020. This means that in December, buyers canceled about 40,000 home-purchase agreements, according to an analysis from brokerage and data firm Redfin.
The cancelations come as last month also recorded a steep drop in the number of deals that entered contract, indicating that the residential market enters 2026 with a number of pain points.
Much of the country has been in a buyer’s market of late, meaning that sellers outnumber buyers. Home prices skyrocketed to record highs last year, but more home sellers have put their properties on the market, causing inventory to swell and helping buyers have more leverage.
However, good news for buyers and sellers alike: mortgage rates have fallen from last year’s higher levels, which could push more deals across the finish line this year.
Among the country’s top cities, Atlanta reported the highest share of canceled home purchases in December, of 22.5 percent. That was up from 18.1 percent year over year.
Atlanta has become a solid buyer’s market, as sellers outnumber buyers in the Georgia capital by more than 80 percent.
Nassau County, meanwhile, had the lowest share of 3.8 percent. The New York City suburb also has the strongest seller’s market among the top 50 metros. In December, buyers outnumbered sellers in that county by more than 33 percent.
San Jose, California recorded the largest increase in its percentage of canceled deals, which rose by 6.7 percentage points in December compared to the same time the year before. On the flip side, Detroit had the greatest drop in its share of canceled sales, of 8 percentage points.
Here is a closer look at the top 10 most populous cities and their shares of canceled pending home sales in December 2025 and December 2024.
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