You might have seen the headlines: buyer cancellations are hitting highs we hasn’t seen since 2017. While that sounds like a reason to panic, there is a silver lining. Most of these "dead deals" share a single, preventable cause.

We’ve seen it twice already this year: mortgage rates dip into the high 5s, only to edge back into the low 6s a few days later. If you saw that "6" and thought, "I missed my chance," you aren’t alone. But before you put your moving boxes back in the garage, let’s look at the math that most people ignore.