Real estate professionals are reporting that a growing number of real estate deals are falling through at the last minute, with almost a third of them (32%) claiming they had at least one deal collapse during last month, October.
Associated Press reported that there were a number of reasons for property transactions falling through at the last minute. Most popular reason was due to lenders refusing mortgage loan applications, while low appraisals (less than the contracted price) were also high on the list. Other common reasons for cancelled sales included buyers losing their job just before closing the deal and problems being uncovered by home inspectors following a check on the home.
Still, while more property transactions may have been cancelled during the last month, home sales in October still increased ever so slightly, reaching a seasonally adjusted 4.97 million for the year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Of these home sales, 34% involved first time buyers, while 28% of October’s deals were foreclosures, a slight decrease from the 30% recorded in September.
John Ryding, an economist with RDQ Electronics, explained that while a sudden renaissance in housing isn’t likely to appear soon, the latest data does suggest that we might be seeing the start of a very gradual improvement.