Home cancellations are down

Hot war

The listing battle between Zillow, Compass, and MRED just went from a slow burn to an open fire.

Wednesday, MRED cut off Zillow's access to its entire Chicagoland listing feed. Today, a federal judge ordered them to restore it — ending the two-day blackout, but not the war. Both sides are digging in deeper over who controls listing distribution, private networks, and what consumers actually see.

We break down where things stand right now.

We'll keep covering this closely throughout the year — because depending on how it resolves, this could reshape the industry more profoundly than the Sitzer/Burnett verdict did.

- James

Home cancellations are no longer on the rise

In April, roughly 47,000 U.S. home-purchase agreements were canceled, equal to 13.4% of homes that went under contract. That was down slightly from March on a seasonally adjusted basis.

According to Redfin, April tied January for the lowest level of contract cancellations since September 2024. 

Here are the other key takeaways from Redfin’s report:

• Sellers are becoming more realistic. Redfin says more homeowners are lowering prices and offering concessions to keep deals from falling apart in today’s buyer-heavy market.

• Buyers appear more adjusted to today’s affordability reality. Pending home sales increased in April, and buyers may be less likely to walk away because of payment shock than they were earlier in the rate cycle.

• Mortgage rates briefly helped boost confidence. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined for three straight weeks in April before climbing again in May.

• Sun Belt markets continue seeing the most canceled deals. Atlanta posted the nation’s highest cancellation rate at 19.3%, followed by San Antonio (18.9%), Fort Worth (17.6%), Tampa (17.4%), and Phoenix (17%).

• Contract cancellations remain far below Sun Belt levels in supply-constrained markets. San Francisco had the nation’s lowest cancellation rate at just 2.8%, helped by strong housing demand tied to the AI boom.

My take

We’re not out of the woods yet, but this is encouraging news, especially after the spike in cancellations we saw earlier this year. Buyers are still cautious, but they’re no longer reacting with the same level of fear and uncertainty that defined much of the last two years. Sellers, meanwhile, are slowly realizing that aggressive pricing and inflexibility don’t work in a market where buyers have choices. Having said that, cancellation rates remain historically elevated, particularly across the Sun Belt, which tells you this is still a fragile housing market. Conditions are stabilizing, but confidence hasn’t fully returned.

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Zillow vs MRED & Compass: Everything you need to know

On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, MRED cut off its entire listing feed to Zillow. Today, a federal judge ordered MRED to restore Zillow’s access to Chicagoland listings. This order ended the two-day blackout, but the listing war between these firms is far from over. 

Here are the key points to know:

• Zillow’s policy sparked the fight. Zillow’s “Listing Access Standards” policy bans listings that are publicly marketed for more than one day before being added to IDX and VOW-powered websites. Compass argues the rule is anti-competitive, while Zillow says it protects transparency and consumers.

• Chicago became ground zero because of MRED’s private listing network. Zillow delayed enforcing its policy in Chicago for months because MRED already operated a large private listing network called PLN, which allows brokers to pre-market listings privately before making them fully public.

• Compass and MRED expanded the battle nationwide. Earlier this year, Compass and MRED partnered to expand MRED’s private listing network beyond Chicago. Zillow claims the move was designed to pressure the portal into allowing Compass private listings to remain visible on Zillow nationwide.

• MRED retaliated by cutting Zillow off entirely. This week, MRED suspended Zillow and Trulia’s access to Chicagoland listing feeds after accusing Zillow of violating its licensing agreement by selectively excluding listings from display. The blackout lasted roughly two days.

• A federal judge temporarily restored Zillow’s access. On Friday, a federal judge ordered MRED to restore Zillow’s listing feed, but also required Zillow to display certain previously banned MRED listings. The ruling ended the immediate blackout, but the broader legal and philosophical fight over listing distribution is still unresolved.

My take

This fight is about much more than a temporary listing blackout in Chicago. At its core, it’s a battle over who controls listing distribution in residential real estate. Zillow is trying to draw a line between pre-marketing and listings that stay inside private networks for extended periods, while Compass and MRED are pushing for brokers to have more flexibility and control over how listings are exposed to the market. The judge’s ruling may have temporarily restored Zillow’s access to Chicagoland listings, but it didn’t settle the underlying dispute. If anything, this week made it clear that the industry’s fight over private listings, transparency, and platform power is only intensifying.

Price drops are cooling

35.4% of U.S. home sellers cut their asking price in April. That’s down slightly from 35.6% a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis and below the recent peak of 36.6% reached last August.

According to Redfin, while buyers still hold leverage in many markets, the imbalance between buyers and sellers is no longer widening at the same pace it was last year. This is helping sellers regain some negotiating power.

Here are the markets where price cuts are the most and least common:

My take

This is encouraging news, but it needs to be kept in perspective. Price cuts are still happening at historically elevated levels, especially across large parts of the Sun Belt, where buyers continue to have substantial leverage. What’s changed is that sellers are finally adjusting to reality. Many are pricing homes more appropriately from the start instead of testing the market with overly aggressive asking prices. At the same time, buyer demand has improved modestly as inventory growth cools and confidence stabilizes. That combination is helping the market find a bit more balance. Still, when roughly half of sellers in markets like San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, and Dallas are cutting prices, it’s hard to argue that sellers are fully back in control.

Schematics

The news that just missed the cuts

• Insurance premiums on new homes are 38% lower than older homes – here’s why

• This is the worst state for first-time homebuyers

• Use this to grow your email list

• What’s a good cost per lead in real estate? –  The answer will surprise you. 

• Items that give your home a touch of luxury without breaking the bank

Foundation Plans

Advice from James to win the day

As I’ve mentioned before, one of my biggest career regrets was not taking social media seriously early enough. When it first started changing the industry, I underestimated it. I don’t want to make that same mistake with AI.

So today on Rise Above the Ranks, I sat down with Breezy Chief Product Officer Jimsy Lee.

Jimsy’s background spans fintech, health tech, and large-scale platforms used by millions of people. What makes his perspective so interesting is that he stepped into the chaos of real estate and started asking a simple question: why is this business still so hard for agents to manage day to day?

In our conversation, we break down:

• Why most real estate tech tools fail agents

• How AI is already changing the industry

• Why agents constantly feel overloaded and scattered

• The hidden mental strain behind running a successful business

• Why building “simple” technology is actually incredibly difficult

• And why AI probably won’t replace agents — but agents who use AI may replace the ones who don’t.

If you want to better understand where this industry is heading, I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation. Listen here, and let me know what you think.

Just in Case

Keep the latest industry data in your back pocket with today’s mortgage rates:

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution."  – Attributed to Aristotle

Thanks for reading, friends. Excellence and success don’t happen by chance — they’re built through intention, focus, and consistent effort.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here next Friday!

- James