I’m noticing a higher number of transactions collapsing after inspections compared to previous years. Do you think this is a structural shift in buyer behavior and expectations or just a temporary phase of a more cautious market?
Why are more deals falling apart lately?
byu/LaMaisonRealEstate inRealEstate
Posted by LaMaisonRealEstate
9 Comments
Higher rates are making people sweat every little thing they find during inspection tbh. When money was cheap people would just roll with minor issues, now they’re nitpicking everything because they’re already stretching to afford the place
It’s buyer behavior. Rates are high. Home prices are high and people are being far pickier. I’m seeing more homes on the market with less equity and less wiggle for sellers to accommodate repairs. Go many people are expecting a 2022 market.
It’s because a fair number of buyer’s have adopted a new strategy. Make an offer to get the seller into contract, then use the inspections to attempt to extract large concessions. Often things like asking for wholesale replacement of major systems (HVAC, electrical, roof), based solely on age, and not any actual discovered issues.
And, well, this really irks sellers, because they feel like they are being strong armed.
This is unfortunately not uncommon any more.
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Rates are way too high, new construction are taking too many shortcuts, and if you want to overcharge for an old house, better make sure there are no issues.
Housing affordability is a massive problem. High home prices, high insurance premiums, high property taxes. Some sellers are out of touch with reality.
Sellers listing outdated, overpriced homes that need $50K-$100K in repairs and updates. Many sellers don’t want to negotiate price or repairs.
People are considering the cost of ownership more and more these days repairs updates, and regular maintenance that has been neglected by the current owner is becoming less attractive to take on, particularly when sellers are unwilling to budge on their list price. Couple that with rising cost-of-living rising insurance, rising taxes, etc buyers bottom line has never been squeezed tighter.
Furthermore, the optimism that prices are going to skyrocket in the near future is at I’d say an all time low, making the investment less worthwhile for the average buyer
The data I recently saw on 2025 fall throughs (https://imgur.com/a/GdM7JGu) is from a KCM article. This cited a Redfin study that says the number of fall throughs in 2025 has been about the same as last year. The bigger change was in the reason for them- buyers walked after inspection, often without even trying to negotiate credits or repairs. I believe the number of fall throughs went up in the month after this was released but they’re still similar year over year, and still higher than pre-pandemic levels. [graph](https://imgur.com/a/GdM7JGu)
Less free money floating around the economy in general. Rates are only now coming down.