Nearly 15% of Home Sales fell through last month, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic. During the pandemic, it was a common occurrence for prospects to waive home inspections, appraisal gaps, and other contingencies to make their offer stronger. However, with mortgage rates high and applications lower, inspections are back and financing contingencies are creeping up also! With a financing contingency, the prospect can go to the seller and say, “I was not able to qualify for a loan and can no longer afford it,” being left without penalty. This is most likely a big reason that more sales fell through last month. Ali Wolf, consultant with real estate data company Zonda, had some thoughts. “What we’re seeing in some of these markets is consumer do, in fact, have a price ceiling.” With record home prices colliding with higher mortgage rates, many prospects have hit that ceiling.
