Housing

Newsweek - Almost 40,000 U.S. home-purchase agreements were canceled in January, the highest share for the month in records dating back to 2017, a new report found.  Real estate brokerage Redfin reported that 13.7 percent of homes that went under contract in January fell out of escrow, up from 13.1 percent a year earlier, based on an analysis of sales data going back to 2017.

The increase in cancellations underscores a national shift toward a buyer's market, where an excess of sellers and lingering affordability pressures are giving purchasers more leverage to walk away from deals.