Roughly 17% of pending home sales in Metro Detroit fell through in January, up from 14% a year earlier, according to Redfin data.

The big picture: More deals are being canceled nationally, Redfin reports.

• Around 14% of pending U.S. home sales fell through in January, the highest share for this time of year since at least 2017.

Context: Homebuyers are backing out of deals for several reasons, including the shock of still-steep prices and mortgage rates, plus economic and political uncertainty, Redfin researchers say.

• With inventory on the rise nationally, some buyers are also pivoting because they think a better house has (or might) come along.

Zoom in: Royal Oak-based Realtor Danny Dedic tells Axios that, as a rule, he typically plans for 10% of contracts to fall through due to run-of-the-mill financing problems, buyers' cold feet or unforeseen circumstances.

• The jump to 17% this January is not overly concerning, he says, pointing out that January is generally a bad month for home sales.
• Dedic is advising his clients to put their houses up for sale ASAP because the market should be fairly robust this spring and summer.

Yes, but: Like the rest of the global economy, the housing market is adjusting to the impact of President Trump's tariffs.

State of play: Mortgage rates plunged last week to about 6.6%.

• In January, the rate was as high as 7.26%.

Between the lines: Declining mortgage rates usually give homebuyers more purchasing power. Harnessing that power, however, will be difficult amid the tumult.

• "Falling rates would juice the housing market, but the general economic uncertainty will hold it back," Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, tells Axios.

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A traveling tribute to gun violence victims built with shoes, mementos and glass is coming to Detroit.

The big picture: The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is hosting the Gun Violence Memorial Project May 2 through Aug. 10.

• It educates viewers while sharing stories of people who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

State of play: The exhibition uses sculpture to represent the magnitude of loss, as well as each loss's tangible, individual impact. Four houses are made of 700 bricks each — the average weekly number of deaths from gun violence in the U.S. in 2019, the year the memorial project began in Chicago.

• Iterations were staged in Washington, D.C., and Boston before coming to Detroit, a city with high gun violence rates historically that has been seeking alternative solutions to reduce violent crime.

Zoom in: Small, meaningful mementos from the people who died, like baby shoes or tassels from a school graduation, are housed inside these bricks behind translucent glass. Names, year of birth and year of death are also displayed.

What's next: The memorial continues to grow. Locals are invited to add to the project at MOCAD at an event June 21. Visit the website for more details.

If you go: MOCAD is at 4454 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. Admission is $12.

• Hours are 11am-5pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and 11am-8pm Thursday and Friday.

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💸 After long, sometimes tense discussions, Detroit City Council approved the final version of the city's $3 billion budget late Monday night. (BridgeDetroit)

​​🏀 Jase Richardson will leave Michigan State after one year and enter the 2025 NBA draft. He's a projected lottery pick. (ESPN)

📖 Curtis Chin, the author who chronicled growing up in 1980s Detroit in his memoir "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant," is in town this week promoting the book.

• He'll be at the Wayne State University Student Center Ballroom today at 4pm, and in Novi and Ann Arbor tomorrow. (Metro Times)

Val Kilmer's passing last week prompted retrospectives of his illustrious career, including his role in 1993's "True Romance," a zany, bloody crime flick that begins in the Motor City.

Between the lines: This is part of our Rewind series, which looks back at Detroit-related movies and TV shows and judges their authenticity on a four-Coney scale.

• "Action Jackson" received two Coney dogs last month.

"True Romance" stars Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken and James Gandolfini.

• Quentin Tarantino wrote the movie, which is R-rated and runs two hours.
• IMDB synopsis: "In Detroit, a pop-culture enthusiast steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple."

🎥 Best Detroit scene: About 40 minutes in, when Clarence, played by Slater, visits his father's trailer home on the Detroit River. The panoramic shot of the city's early 1990s skyline is worth a pause.

• There are several other Detroit references and sites in the movie — a handwritten note with an address on Montcalm, a bag of chips with the Better Made logo and the old Wayne County building on Randolph among them.

The intrigue: For those who haven't seen it, Kilmer's character has a ghostlike quality.

• "He lurks in the background of several scenes, as a muse who visits Christian Slater from time to time, dispensing heartfelt advice," Roger Ebert wrote in his review.

The verdict: 🌭🌭🌭

Read Joe's thoughts

We were in Windsor yesterday reporting for future stories revolving around tariffs and life near the U.S.-Canada border, where many folks travel back and forth for work, family and recreation.

• Any readers who work or live in Canada but cross the border frequently and want to share your experience? Do you hate America now? Reply to this email and let us know.