Buyers & Sellers Beware: Not Fulfilling Or Cancelling A Property Agreement Creates Claimable Damages

A property sales contract is a binding document once signed and the terms and conditions in an offer to purchase are designed to protect both the buyer and the seller and prevent either party from unilaterally changing their mind to the detriment of the other. If either the buyer or seller want to cancel or act to cause a breach of the contract, they could be held accountable for the breach of contract and could be penalised if the opposing party were to claim damages.

A property sales agreement can only legally be cancelled without the risk of penalty, if one or more of the suspensive conditions could not be met (i.e. when the sale is subject to and conditional upon a bond approval or the sale of another property), or if the contract stipulates that either party is allowed to cancel the contract within a stipulated period of time (a so-called 72-hour clause).