San Antonio just grabbed an unwelcome top spot in the housing charts, logging the highest share of canceled home purchase contracts in March at about 18.7%, or nearly one in five. That rate beat out other major metros and left local sellers scrambling right as the spring selling season kicked into gear. Longer days on market and slipping median prices suggest deals are falling apart more often than usual across the Alamo City.
According to Redfin, nearly 53,000 U.S. home sale agreements fell through in March, equal to 13.4% nationally, with San Antonio topping the list at 18.7% among the 43 metros the company analyzed. "Buyers are getting cold feet," Patricia Ammann, a Redfin Premier agent, told the site, pointing to higher mortgage costs, economic uncertainty and plenty of options in buyer's markets as reasons more deals are dying during inspection and financing contingencies. The report finds cancellations clustering in Sun Belt buyer's markets where sellers are outnumbered by buyers.
Local data backs up that story. MySA reports that San Antonio's median home price in March hovered around $260,000, down about 3.3% from a year earlier, while homes were taking a median 98 days to sell. That extra time on the market, paired with softer prices, gives buyers more choices and bargaining power, making it easier to ditch one contract and chase another. Realtors and market trackers say the churn is most obvious in neighborhoods where active listings have piled up.
Why deals are collapsing
Several forces are colliding at once. Contract activity across the U.S. ticked up in March even as borrowing costs climbed, which leaves buyers more nervous about monthly payments and closing timelines. The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index rose 1.5% in March, according to Inman, but Freddie Mac's 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged roughly 6.38% at the end of the month, a level that sharply narrows budgets for many buyers, per Investing.com. That mix of higher rates, more listings and lingering uncertainty raises the odds that buyers will bolt once inspections or loan underwriting turn up issues.
Sellers respond with price cuts
San Antonio sellers are already trimming expectations. Redfin found that 57.9% of February sellers in the metro cut their list price, the highest share among the 50 largest U.S. metros. According to Redfin, that high rate of price reductions is boosting buyer confidence and, somewhat ironically, fueling more canceled contracts as shoppers walk away when a seemingly better deal pops up. Local brokers told the San Antonio Business Journal that buyers are increasingly demanding credits, repairs and rate buydown incentives before they will sign off and head to closing.
For sellers, the takeaway is blunt: price the home competitively and be prepared to negotiate on repairs or credits, or risk watching deals fall apart. For buyers, inspectors and lenders are the leverage points where contracts live or die. Unless mortgage rates ease or local supply tightens, more aborted contracts are likely through the spring, and any shift in those conditions could quickly swing negotiating power back toward sellers.
