In recent months, we’ve seen quite a few headlines about a recovery in new-home sales.

And indeed, the second quarter of 2026 saw a significant increase in developer sales.

But the financial reports published this week by real estate companies raise an interesting question:

Does this increase reflect a genuine return of buyers to the market, or was some of it driven by developers’ financing incentives?

In recent years, developers have dealt with high interest rates and weaker demand by offering 20/80 financing deals—where buyers pay 20% upfront and the remaining 80% later.

From a data perspective, once a contract is signed, the apartment is considered sold. But for the buyer, the real test comes later, when they are required to come up with the remaining funds and take out a mortgage.

Some of the deals signed in recent years are now reaching the finish line.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, 1,821 developer transactions have so far been identified as cancelled, from deals signed between 2023 and 2025.

Are we facing a wave of cancellations? Not necessarily.

In some cases, the cancellation is not due to financial difficulties on the buyer’s part, and some developers have already resold apartments that were cancelled.

So the more interesting question is:

What happens to the apartment the day after the cancellation?

If the developer quickly resells it at a similar price, the impact on the market is limited. But if we start seeing cancelled apartments return to the available inventory, remain there for an extended period, or sell at discounted prices, that could be a sign of weaker demand.

Even following the strong second quarter, some construction companies are reporting slower sales in July and August. It is still too early to know whether this is simply seasonal or the beginning of a broader trend.

So, over the coming months, we’ll be watching four things:

• How many apartments are being sold.
• How many transactions are being cancelled.
• How many of the cancelled apartments are resold.
• And at what price.

Because ultimately:

The number of contracts signed tells us how many apartments were sold—but it doesn’t always tell us how strong the demand behind those sales really is.