Agents reported delays on 16% of their contracts in the three months to September 2026: the most since December 2024, but below the 2017 average of 24.1%
NAR's monthly survey of agents shows how many deals slip or fall apart before closing. We put 99 months of it in one series and read the standard purchase contract of every state that posts one, to see how long each gives a buyer to inspect, appraise and finance.
How often do deals fall through or slip?
Agents answering NAR's REALTORS® Confidence Index for September 2026 said 16% of their contracts in the past three months had a delayed settlement and 7% were terminated.1
Across the 99 monthly reports we collected from January 2016, the delayed share ran from 10% (March 2024 and April 2025) to 32% (January 2016). Terminations ran from 2% to 12% (April 2020).
Averaging the monthly figures, delays ran at 13.7% in 2026 so far (9 months) against 13.3% in 2025 (12 months). That is an average of NAR's monthly percentages, not a share of all contracts: NAR does not publish counts.
Contracts terminated or delayed
- Contracts with a delayed settlement
- Contracts terminated
How long does contract to close take?
NAR's median time from contract to close was 30 days in September 2026, as it has been in every report we collected since January 2021. The earliest report we found, for January 2016, put it at 42 days; across the series the median ran from 30 to 42 days.1
Since January 2021 the schedule hasn't moved; what moves is how many deals miss it. That makes the dates inside the contract, the inspection, appraisal and loan deadlines, the part of the timeline worth watching.
Median days to close
- Median days to close
Are buyers still waiving contingencies?
In September 2026, 20% of buyers waived the inspection contingency and 18% waived the appraisal contingency.1
Since NAR's August 2021 report, the first we found that prints waivers, the high for inspection waivers was 30% (June 2022) and for appraisal waivers 32% (June 2022). A buyer who waives a contingency gives up the right to walk away on that ground.
Buyers waiving contingencies
- Waived the inspection contingency
- Waived the appraisal contingency
How many days does each state's contract give the buyer?
15 states post a standard purchase contract anyone can download. 5 of the 15 public forms print a default inspection period; the printed periods run from 10 to 15 days (Rhode Island counts 10 business days; Oklahoma doesn't say whether its days are calendar or business days); 1 puts it in a standard addendum; 9 leave the deadline blank for the parties to fill in.3
1 of the 15 public forms prints a default appraisal period; 4 put it in a standard addendum; 5 leave the deadline blank for the parties to fill in; 1 leaves it open until closing. 2 of the 15 public forms print a default financing period; 2 put it in a standard addendum; 8 leave the deadline blank for the parties to fill in; 1 leaves it open until closing. Not every printed period counts from acceptance: Arizona's appraisal period runs from notice of the appraised value, and its financing period runs before closing. The table shows what each period counts from.
The shortest printed inspection period is 10 days (Arizona, in calendar days; Oklahoma, which doesn't say what kind of day). Where a form leaves the box blank, the deadline is whatever the agents wrote in, which is why a transaction coordinator reads the executed contract rather than the form.
| ArizonaResidential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract (sample) (Updated: February 2026) | 10 daysfrom Contract acceptance¶ 6a | 5 daysfrom notice of the appraised value¶ 2 (Appraisal Contingency; 12th sub-item of Section 2, i.e. 2l by heading order) | 3 daysbefore closing¶ 2b |
|---|---|---|---|
| ColoradoContract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) (CBS1, Adoption Date August 5, 2025; Mandatory Use Date January 1, 2026) | Blank, parties fill in¶ § 10.3.1 / § 3.1 item 30-31 | Blank, parties fill in¶ § 6.2.1 / § 3.1 items 22-24 | Blank, parties fill in¶ § 5.2.2 / § 3.1 item 15 |
| ConnecticutConnecticut Residential Purchase and Sale Agreement (model form) (no version or date printed on the form; file name model_residential_contract_j.pdf) | Blank, parties fill in¶ Section 6 Research Completion Date; Section 13(a) | Blank, parties fill in¶ Section 5 (appraisal checkbox) | Blank, parties fill in¶ Section 5(d); Section 14 Mortgage Contingency |
| Florida“AS IS” Residential Contract For Sale And Purchase (redlined copy) (FloridaRealtors/FloridaBar-ASIS-7x; footer of redline reads 'Rev. 12/24 26 © 2024 2026' (redline of Rev. 12/24 to the 2026 revision)) | 15 daysfrom Effective Date¶ 12(a) Property Inspections and Right to Cancel | In an addendum, blank¶ Rider F (Appraisal Contingency), listed in ¶19 addenda checklist | 30 daysfrom Effective Date¶ 8(b) Financing (Loan Approval Period) |
| LouisianaLouisiana Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell (2026) (Rev. 01/2026) | Blank, parties fill in¶ Due Diligence and Inspection Period, lines 178-181 | Blank, parties fill in¶ Appraisal, lines 262-268 | Blank, parties fill in¶ Financing (Financed Sale), lines 77-105 |
| MarylandResidential Contract of Sale (Property Inspections Addendum, footer 'Page 1 of 3 10/23', Copyright 2023) | In an addendum, blank¶ Contract ¶26 Inspection Contingency; Property Inspections Addendum ¶1 | In an addendum, blank¶ Conventional Financing Addendum ¶7 Appraisal Contingency | Blank, parties fill in¶ 20. Financing Application and Commitment |
| MichiganMichigan Realtors® Purchase Agreement (Form A) (Form A © 2024 Michigan REALTORS® (no revision date printed)) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 10. PROPERTY INSPECTION CONTINGENCY | No clause | Blank, parties fill in¶ 4. METHOD OF PAYMENT – NEW MORTGAGE |
| North CarolinaOffer to Purchase and Contract (Standard Form 2-T), marked-up copy (Standard Form 2-T; footer of public marked-up copy reads 'Revised 7/2025 © 7/2025') | Blank, parties fill in¶ 1(f) Due Diligence Period | No clause¶ 4(a) Loan | No clause¶ 4(a) Loan; 5(a) Funds to complete purchase |
| OklahomaOklahoma Uniform Contract of Sale of Real Estate - Residential Sale (RESIDENTIAL SALE (01-01-2026)) | 10 daysfrom Time Reference Date (if blank: 3rd day after last signature)¶ 7A | 3 days (addendum)from Buyer's receipt of notice of appraised value¶ 2 | 10 days (addendum)from Time Reference Date¶ 1A |
| Rhode IslandSingle Family Purchase and Sales Agreement (watermarked 'For Instructional Purposes Only') (Rev. 10/26, Copyright © 2026 Rhode Island Association of REALTORS®) | 10 business daysfrom Date of this Agreement¶ 6. Inspections Contingency (a), (c) | No clause | Blank, parties fill in¶ 9. Financing Contingency (a) |
| South CarolinaAgreement/Contract: To Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) (SCR Form 310; footer '9/2023 FORM 310 PAGE 8 of 8 © 2023 South Carolina Association of REALTORS®. 06/22') | Blank, parties fill in¶ 8. Due Diligence | Open until closing¶ 10. Appraised Value | Open until closing¶ 7. Finance |
| South DakotaPurchase Agreement - Residential (PURCHASE AGREEMENT - RESIDENTIAL - 2021) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 9 | No clause¶ 5 | No clause¶ 4 |
| TexasOne to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) (TREC No. 20-19 (replaces 20-18)) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 5B | In an addendum, blank¶ (3) | In an addendum, blank¶ 2A |
| UtahReal Estate Purchase Contract (REPC) (Approved by Utah Real Estate Commission and Office of the Utah Attorney General, effective December 4, 2024) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 8.1(b) / 24(b) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 8.2(a) / 24(c) | Blank, parties fill in¶ 8.3(b) / 24(c) |
| WisconsinWB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase (WB-11, 7-1-24 (Optional Use Date) 8-15-24 (Mandatory Use Date)) | 15 daysfrom acceptance¶ Inspection Contingency, line 206 | Blank, parties fill in¶ Appraisal Contingency, line 312 | Blank, parties fill in¶ Financing Commitment Contingency, line 250 |
15 states publish their standard form where anyone can read it. Behind a member login or paywall: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming. Only an out-of-date or draft copy is public: California, Maine, North Dakota, Tennessee. No statewide standard form: Massachusetts, Nevada, West Virginia. Hover a cell for the printed wording.
To count one contract's dates by hand, use the contract deadline calculator; for what a slipped closing costs per day, the closing delay cost calculator.
For reporters
In the three months to September 2026, agents surveyed by the National Association of REALTORS® reported a delayed settlement on 16% of their contracts, and 7% were terminated. The median contract took 30 days from contract to close. DeedSpring compiled 99 months of NAR's REALTORS® Confidence Index into one series and read the standard purchase contracts of 15 states: 5 print a default inspection period.
Pull quotes from the data
Agents surveyed by NAR reported a delayed settlement on 16% of their contracts in the three months to September 2026, the most since December 2024.
The median home sale took 30 days from contract to close in September 2026.
Only 5 of 15 publicly posted state purchase contracts print a default inspection period.
Free to quote and chart with a link to this page. Questions or a custom cut of the data: [email protected].
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Cite this
DeedSpring, "Contract to close, 2026", October 27, 2026, https://deedspring.com/research/contract-to-close-2026
Download the data
- Monthly series (CSV)One row per survey month, with the NAR report each figure came from.
- State contract periods (CSV)One row per state form and clause, with the paragraph and printed wording.
Data and method
The monthly figures are as printed in NAR's REALTORS® Confidence Index, a monthly survey of member agents. Since June 2020 the delay and termination questions cover each agent's contracts over the past three months, so neighboring months overlap. Before that, NAR asked about each agent's most recent contract that settled or was terminated in the three-month period; NAR's later reports reprint those months unchanged next to the new figures, so we treat them as one series. We copied each figure from the month's report (for October 2021, whose summary table repeats September's, days to close and terminations come from the November 2021 report's prior-month column) and did not adjust or estimate any month. We couldn't find 30 of the monthly reports in that span on NAR's site or in the Wayback Machine, so those months are gaps in the charts. Year averages are plain means of the monthly percentages and are labelled as such.
For the state table we read each state's standard residential purchase contract as posted by its publisher (a REALTOR® association or a state regulator) and recorded what it prints for the inspection, appraisal and financing periods, with the paragraph. Forms behind a member login are listed but not read. Local forms and negotiated terms override these defaults, so the table describes the form, not every deal.
Sources and archive copies for every figure are in the two CSVs. Data retrieved October 2026.
- National Association of REALTORS®, REALTORS® Confidence Index, monthly reports January 2016 to September 2026. Each month's report is linked row by row in the monthly CSV, with a Wayback Machine copy
- REALTORS® Confidence Index, September 2026 survey
- Standard residential purchase contracts of 15 states, read clause by clause. Each form is linked from its row in the table above