Why wont they sign contract

We recently saw a property that we liked and made an offer which was accepted. This was over 2 months ago and then we got engineer report done and contracts were drawn up and we signed them 5 weeks ago. we are still waiting on the seller to sign the contracts and at this stage we are ready to walk away with our deposit back if they are not signed soon.. Why do people put property up for sale and then carry on like this leaving us out of pocket due to bills for engineer and solicitor fees. Should we just walk away or hold tough because we like the property. Any advice is greatly welcomed

Are they looking to buy somewhere else? Perhaps they're being held up by someone else too, it can happen. Or in my case, where it was an executor sale and 1 family member delayed everything.

Don't give a deadline if you're not prepared to walk away.

Put in a new offer at 10k lower than previous offer. Give them a time limit of say one week to accept or reject.

Problem is .... buyer has signed so the ball is in the seller's court.

Buyer can't just pull out now without being open to being accused of a breach of contract.

Talk to your solicitor OP.

I thought the point when a Contract became binding was when both the Seller and Buyer had signed and the Contracts had been exchanged.

Is there a 'final close' date obligation on each party? In some contracts, there is a deadline date imposed on the seller, but it's sometimes up to you and your solicitor to add such a clause.

If they are in negative equity they may be waiting on their bank to give permission for the sale to go through.