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For years now, the housing market has been highly competitive thanks to limited inventory and high demand. Buyers are now frequently waiving inspections or home inspection contingencies, which would allow them to back out of an offer contingent on findings from the inspection.

But houses can have hidden issues that end up costing buyers tens of thousands of dollars.

Data from the National Association of Realtors® shows that 25% of buyers waived an inspection contingency in April 2021, the first month the NAR began tracking this data. The percentage of buyers waiving this contingency reached a peak of 30% in June 2022, before falling to 18% in August of this year.

While the NAR doesn’t have pre-pandemic data, that 18% still seems like a bigger percentage than what realtors® were seeing prior to the pandemic, said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist at the NAR. 

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