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Seattle early-year home sale cancellations continue rise in 2026

House for sale (Andy Dean Photography/Andy Dean - stock.adobe.com)

NATIONAL — More home sales are not reaching the closing table.

Redfin, the real estate brokerage, analyzed the 50 most populous metro areas.

According to their analysis, almost 40,000 home-sale agreements were canceled in January.

That is up by close to 1% from the previous year.

It is also the highest January record since 2017.

Redfin points to a buyer’s market, with thousands more sellers than buyers.

Another major factor is that, although costs have come down, they remain historically high.

Alin Glogovicean, a Redfin Premier agent in Los Angeles, says that economic uncertainty might also play a role.

“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,” said Glogovicean.

Either way, sales cancellations rose from close to 8% to 10% in Seattle.

However, it isn’t the highest. That belongs to San Antonio, rising from 15.6% to 21.2% this year.

Redfin also highlighted contradictions. Cancellations fell in 11 markets like Tampa, Milwaukee and Nassau County in New York.

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