How Often Do Pending Offers Fall Through When Selling a Home?

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Selling your home can be an exciting time of hopeful anticipation — or a season of dreaded anxiety. You can experience both when waiting for a pending offer to pan out, causing you to wonder, “How often do pending offers fall through?”.

In this post, We’ll provide insights into the realities and risks that come with pending offers. We’ll also share expert tips from a recent HomeLight survey of over 1,000 top real estate agents. You’ll learn:

  • The likelihood that your pending sale will fall through
  • Top reasons an offer goes sour (so you can anticipate and avoid them)
  • 11 things that frighten buyers the most
  • What to do if your deal falls through
  • Buyer red flags to watch for
  • How to get your home sale to the finish line

Connect with a Top Agent to Sail Through to Closing

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How often do pending offers fall through?

According to data compiled by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), it’s estimated that about 5% of pending offers fall through. For perspective, NAR reports that about 4.71 million homes were sold in the U.S. in 2023. Based on NAR’s estimate, that means roughly 247,500 home sales fell through in 2023.

The good news is that 95% of pending home sales carry through to closing.

Given the dynamic nature of the real estate market, factors such as economic shifts, lending standards, and local market health can influence this statistic. The cancellation rate can also vary significantly based on location, regional market conditions, and even home values.


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